The threat of Chaos
by Dim95
Summary: The distorted flow of Metaverse thoughts attracts attention on a dimensional plane known as Warp, a dwelling inhabited between ruthless dark gods and their deadly daemons. The Phantom Thieves are the only hope that humanity has to face this new threat, even if it means dying in the attempt.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a remastering of this story that I have begun to rewrite.**

**In addition, in this story it was carried out in Old Terra, in the twenty-first millennium.**

**All comments are welcome.**

**English is not my mother tongue, so there may be bad grammar.**

* * *

The leader of the Phantom Thieves jumped and landed on a panel of lights that illuminated the entire casino ... or rather, the entire Palace.

The whole place looked like an authentic casino where adults had fun at the asares games and quietly drank liquors of any kind while betting and laughing at everyday things that happened in real life, but were not real. The entire casino, both its structure and the clientele, were simple cognitive representations of the real ones that were formed in the internal thoughts of the individuals given the name of the Palace, and this Palace was belonging to the prosecutor Sae Niijima.

One way or another, both he and his team were forced to reform Makoto's older sister on the orders of the young detective Goro Akechi in an attempt to stop her in her eagerness to catch them; since if they didn't, Akechi would denounce them to his friends for being the Phantom Thieves if they didn't cooperate with him. Having no other options, Ren Amamiya, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, decided to accept the request, and include Goro Akechi as a new member of the group.

They managed to pass all the tests of the Palace in the form of a casino, until they reached the last test where they had to fight the dark version of Sae Niijima with the appearance of a sensual diva. Together they struggled to defeat it in its true changed form, and were able to obtain their Treasury in the form of a briefcase as a prize, but the moment of victory was abolished by the inexplicable appearance of the Special Investigations Unit (by its initials SIU) in the Palace.

Assuming as planned; Ren Amamiya, or known by his nickname as Joker, slid the briefcase down a ventilation gate, where his team would retrieve it from the other side. He ran down the corridor; entering a new room with stairs that led up, and climbed at a rapid pace. He entered many corridors, avoiding the humans who were able to enter the Palace.

He trotted down a luxurious corridor of pearl-decorated walls with gleaming tiles with the yellow light of the lamps. He climbed into a railing, knowing that his path was cut in a large square room with the view down where the bets were held. He ran down the railing on the right side. He stopped in front of a large arch-shaped mural, consisting of several crystals of different colors that shone with the contrast of the two chandeliers hung from behind.

Listening to the footsteps from the other side, Joker smiled confidently, and threw himself toward the crystal arch, breaking the impact of his body. The shattered crystals shone like stars in the moonlight amid great darkness in a night and starry sky.

The leader of the Phantom Thieves landed on the squatting asphalt, intact, with the glass breaking as he rose, looking towards the great wall of darkness with few lights in the distance ... until a large number of white lights shone on the darkness.

Joker covered his eyes with his gloved hand in red, observing with frustration the great amount of forces of the SIU surrounding him, with raised anti-protest shields and raised batons, besides there were three helicopters crossing the night sky, and many cars of police.

In his headset, Joker heard the worried voices of his friends.

_"Enemies, here? This data, I couldn't be!"_

_"Something is wrong?"_

_"What's going on?"_

_"An ambush?!"_

_"Joker, you have to go out!"_

_"Joker!"_

He remained calm in his position, thinking of a chance to escape.

"Capture it!" shouted an officer holding a radio, in the middle of a wall uniformed officers with protective equipment.

Joker grimaced, and ran to the left side, while the officers went after him. He saw a red staircase half a meter away. He jumped and grabbed the edges with both gloved hands. He climbed the ladder without stopping, thinking about reaching the roof and being able to leave the Palace, but to his surprise, he only got several uniformed soldiers aiming at him with the guns of his weapons.

One of them hit the forehead with a blow to his forehead, letting Joker fall on the ground, and then be caught by the officers who threw himself on top of him.

The cries of panic from his friends deafened his ears, but he could do nothing; They had already caught him.

When the officers were ready to take him in the van, a large multi-colored tear opened from the barricade of uniformed officers; all watching with astonished countenance for what just happened.

SIU officers backed away from the tear, taking defensive positions with the shields and with the weapons pointing directly at the tear. The expressions of dismay turned to panic and fear for what they were seeing, as did the Phantom Thieves that were in a corner away from the casino entrance.

There was a slight movement in the portal, and a being came out, causing the fear of the humans present to be replaced by horror. What came out of the tear was something taken from fantasy tales: the figure was a two-headed anthropomorphic bird with half-long necks, whose skin was dark blue and with a pearl-colored abdomen. It had gold plates with ornate designs on its legs, arms and shoulders, as well as its two helmets inlaid with various diamonds and a crimson loincloth with a blue feather-shaped flame. The avian creature held a golden ornate cane with an open book and a peacock-shaped staff with an eagle eye in its center.

Panic broke out among the SIU officers, screaming for what they should do, but a gust of light enveloped them all, giving way to an explosive flash that lifted the asphalt debris, leaving a large ditch in their place.

The three helicopters that furrowed the night sky were destroyed by luminous spheres launched by the two-headed anthropomorphic bird that radiated a bluish aura. Fragments of the helicopters crashed in the casino building and on the rooftop, killing the soldiers who had hit Joker.

The last SIU officers who seized the leader of the Phantom Thieves were reduced to bloody explosions that ended their lives, leaving Joker dyed with blood on his face, in his curly jet hair and in his black robber raincoat.

Joker rose awkwardly from the ground, turbulent and wet with blood. His heart kept beating like a drum. His whole body was shaking like jelly. His jet-gray eyes were narrowed and trembling ... what he just saw had terrified him completely, he had even been paralyzed to see how the creature, or whatever it was, looked at him with his two heads deeply ... almost piercing his soul.

Before he could get out of his stupor state, a charcoal of nebulous twigs wrapped around him like a snake. He tried to struggle, but he only numbed him by exercising, feeling exhausted.

_"Do not try to resist, human, you will only make it worse,"_ said the voice of the head on the left, whose distorted tone was closely related to the speech of the Shadows, but it was different from what he was hearing.

Joker felt tense when he saw the two heads of birds of prey stare at him with an intense bluish glow like the fire that glowed intensely with an evil touch on them, making him shiver with fear.

_"I can feel the fear you have, human ... or should I say ... Ren Amamiya, known under your nickname as Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts,"_ said the head on the right side with a touch of sick fun in Your voice distorted.

Joker sweated, shivering even more.

Both heads let out grotesque laughter that made him feel more scared.

_"Surprised, right?"_ the two heads had said in unison, and the head on the left side continued speaking: _"We know a lot about you ... both your daily life, and your hidden and private life. But we will leave for another occasion about your double life, Tzeentch will be very happy to do some studies"_

The two-headed blue anthropomorphic bird murmured an unknown spell, and Joker felt his vision become very blurry and how his entire body relaxed from the numbness ... until his eyelids closed completely.

Happy to have caught his prey, Kairos Fateweaver summoned a spell by waving his staff in circles, and the sleeping body of the leader of the Phantom Thieves was levitating towards the open portal, still wrapped in the nebula that seized him in the form of a shield protector, like all the souls of humans were sent inside the tear, where they would become faithful daemons or subjects of experimentation.

The leader of the Phantom Thieves, Ren Amamiya (Joker as Phantom Thieve in the Metaverse) was a grand prize for Kairos and his master; a mortal with the ability to invoke his rebellious spirit from the depths of his mind called Persona, and this human would be a good subject of experimentation when he arrived at the Impossible Fortress to conduct investigations; put it to the test with its spells if it is possible that the human can resist the influence of Chaos ... or turn it into a Greater Daemon that would be very interesting in using it in suicide missions. Kairos would consult the prophetic visions in the Staff of Tomorrow regarding the events that would occur to come.

Seeing that all the souls of the dead had been assimilated into the portal, Kairos walked alongside the suspended body to the tear that led to the Inmaterium through the great ditch, but stopped dead, letting the human's sleeping body pass through the portal half a centimeter

Knowing that everything was produced according to its variables, the surprise impact was stopped by the invocation of a magical protection field, protecting it.

He was not surprised at all, instead, it was a matter of time that the team of the human was going to rescue him and that he would receive a surprise attack without his noticing ... a serious error on their part.

Kairos watched with his two heads how humans disguised in strange attire had taken defensive positions, especially the bristly blond-haired human in a sailor's uniform had summoned his Persona: a ghostly pirate on a primitive wooden ship with a cannon hovering in your jaws The Lord of Change could feel the great courage that the human's aura gave off, which reminded him of the Khorne's Bloodthister for his intense energy in fighting against any magic caster, but he could glimpse the fear and fear in his hardened expression because of his fury

It was not necessary to know who they really were; his abilities to predict the various events during his long stay at the Well of Eternity gave him the ability to glimpse the veil between the past and the future in his two heads; taking with the Tome of Destiny with me where I could store large amounts of information on the croaking pages.

He knew very well who his opponents: a group of teenagers marginalized by modern society who decided to rebel against the corrupt system of adults in reforming their hearts through a digital medium where they teleported them to the cognitive world of Metaverse, freeing their rebel spirits of their minds and transforming into the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, whose mission is to reform the entire corrupt system and give way to the new. Each of them has their own ambitions to live a new society, and that was something Kairos could feel in his auras; ambition strengthened the spirit and fed Chaos. The kingdom of Tzeentch was a region where he and the daemons were created based on personal ambitions and anarchic conspiracies by mortals, and Kairos was a daemon created on the basis of that corrupt feeling.

Kairos observed them in detail and analytically to the members of the Phantom Thieves: there was the blond human in a captain's outfit and with a skull-shaped mask; where his summoned person was undone in dark smoke as the most formed. In addition to the blond human with a skull mask, the Greater Daemon of Change studied that the other members were prepared to attack in invoking their rebel spirits.

"What have you done with our leader, bastard!" the blond-haired human snapped at him furiously.

The two Kairos peaks twisted into sick smiles that made the Phantom Thieves shiver.

_"Your leader is in a better place right now ... far away from you,"_ said the head on the left, snapping his fingers the minute the portal closed in a blink. He laughed evilly when he saw the horrified expressions of humans._ "It seems they won't see him again"_

"Your...!" the blond human with a skull mask snapped in a broken and annoying tone. "You ... bastard ...! How dare you ...!"

"Skull, control yourself!" he scolded the anthropomorphic cat of caricatural appearance to the human; Kairos thought whether or not it is necessary to take him to the Impossible Fortress to experience it. "You don't need to act like an idiot right now. What we face is something different and powerful."

"But .. Mona ...!" the human began to complain with his nickname of Skull, but he fell silent instantly, growling with reluctance. "Fine..."

Kairos had fun seeing the desperation of the human, as well as his companions, and especially the talking cat; seeing that his fur was bristling and drops of sweat fell down his feline face.

The Greater Daemon of Change made fun of them.

_"His pathetic attempt to stop me is useless, Phantom Thieves"_ proclaimed with superior air the head of the left. _"Their leader is in the kingdom of Tzeentch in the Inmaterium. Any attempt to use his power of Persona is mere weak gesture against the superior power of Chaos. I will guarantee you a quick death if you defy me"_

Kairos's two heads smiled at the expressions of discouragement and defeat of the Phantom Thieves. However ... Kairos noted that there was still determination in his auras, but the effort to fight him would only bring them closer to death.

"No," the dark blue-haired human with a fox mask spoke with authority and firmness, pointing his finger accusingly. "We will not lower ourselves before a being like you. We have spent many moments fighting against more powerful and despicable Shadows like you." He slipped his gloved hand of light blue towards the handle where his sword was stored; he drew it with a rapid movement, and pointed it out with its thin and half curved blade. "We will fight if you need to bring our leader"

Kairos's two heads tilted their heads, and he saw that humans had adopted certain expressions in their former desperate countenance. Kairos let out a bitter laugh that made the Phantom Thieves freeze.

_"Stupid humans!"_ being mocked the two-headed Greater Daemon of Change. _"I am superior! The powerful magic of Chaos will give me victory over you, as will my ability to see past and future events"_

The Phantom Thieves tensed, and expressions of panic formed in their countenance. Kairos took advantage of it to make them suffer.

"Impossible ..." said a member of the Phantom Thieves in a fearful voice: he was very young, with long brown hair that reached his chin and with reddish brown eyes narrowed under a red mask with a long nose; his dress was a white formable uniform with red accents.

The two Kairos peaks formed with malicious smiles.

_"Oh ... of course I do. I know you are all afraid that I know a lot about you, and especially you, Goro Akechi ... or maybe I should call you by the nickname that the Phantom Thieves gave you as Crow at this time, or better would be your namesake, Black Mask, responsible for causing major mental breakdowns in the material plane"_

The faces of the Phantom Thieves were stunned by surprise.

_"However ... you already knew it"_ Kairos continued speaking, with his left head taking the rhythm of the speech. _"They took steps to know that their new member who was going to report them would be the well-known Black Mask who would betray them by asking for support in catching them. But ..."_ He gestured to the destruction behind the casino and the crater in which they were standing , _"... it seems that there was an abnormality in his plans, especially in yours, Goro Akechi. All this plan he had planned to capture his leader to win the approval of your father, Masayoshi Shido, and manipulate him to get your revenge for the death of your mother to commit suicide for your birth"_

The looks of the Phantom Thieves were perplexed in the juvenile detective; whose state was that of a decayed and finished person.

"It can't be true..." said a female member of the Phantom Thieves in bewilderment as she covered both her gloved hands with purple her mouth, and whose gaze was ajar over her dark mask. The female was wearing a pale pink long-sleeved blouse with a white collar jabot by a red gem pin, a black corset vest with gold buttons, shorts that combined with her dark purple cap with a feather tuft tucked into a headband royal purple color; she wore black pantyhose on his legs, a belt with a case full of ammunition and shoes with laces. Kairos knew that his code name in Metaverse was Noir, while his real real name was Haru Okumura.

_"Of course it's true, Haru Okumura"_ spoke the head of the right. _"Goro Akechi performed all the dirty actions of his father to store power and become Prime Minister. He eliminated each competitor and executed the circle of his father's involved who represented a great danger to his plans, such is the case of Kunikazu Okumura and the director Kobayakwa of the Shujin Academy. You were also going to kill the Director of the SIU as a representative of the Conspiracy, but I doubt that you will not do so after I appeared and changed the course of events"_ Kairos left head looked at the cat anthropomorphic. "_As for you, Morgana, you are nothing more than a simple puppet without talent that you are only obsessed with becoming a human being, but you are nothing more than a cognitive creation by being expelled by Yaldabaoth when he took the Velvet Room. You you are nothing but an insect that must be crushed"_

"Yaldabaoth? ... Expelled from the Velvet Room? ... Puppet without talent ...?" Morgana felt dizzy and lost, but somehow, several memories appeared in her mind like flashes of lights that exploded from the depths of her mind, and her tall blue eyes opened like blinds. "I can not believe it!"

"Morgana?" called the human with white kitsune mask with concern. The human's nickname as a thief was Fox, while his real name Yusuke Kitagawa "What happens?"

"I ..." the tone of the talking cat was speechless. "I remember ... I didn't remember anything before when I first met Ren and Ryuji in the Kamoshida Palace. But now everything starts to return to normal. My memories have returned, and he is right; I am a being cognitive that was created to help Ren with his journey to save humanity from destruction, but I was expelled and maintained by an entity that managed to take over the Velvet Room ... Now I understand everything"

Seeing the vulnerability of the Phantom Thieves team, Kairos again made fun of them, this time with a sickly and evil laugh.

_"You understand it now! You are what you really are: an arrogant cognitive being who uses the humans he must lead the good way, but you only used them for your own ambition without caring about your well-being. You are nothing You are not real, just an unimportant thing, just like Goro Akechi!"_

_"What?!"_ Crow exclaimed with surprise and indignation.

_"You are nothing more than another puppet without talent,"_ the head of Kairos left mortally. _"Entering the Metaverse through your communication device and invoking your Persona are nothing more than simple abilities that Yaldabaoth has provided you to use as a toy in your own game of taking control of the earthly plane. You and Ren Amamiya they are nothing more than puppets controlled by their teacher's string so they can make calamities on their behalf. Yaldabaoth believes the advantage is in his favor, but he is wrong!"_ The intonation of the Greater Daemon of Change rumbled like thunder that caused the Phantom Thieves to tremble with fear _"He believes he can manipulate events to emerge victorious in his game! JA! He is nothing but a pathetic cognitive deity who He barely knows how to use his power! Yaldabaoth is nothing but a false god, believing himself to manipulate everything at will, but Tzeentch overcomes it! Tzeentch is the Great Conspirator who weaves the threads of fate, manipulates mortals and plants the seeds of ambition and intrigue! THERE IS NOBODY WHO ESCAPES FROM THE TZEENTCH MACHINES! You, Phantom Thieves, will be the first to savor the might of Chaos when we take this whole everthing! I am Kairos Fateweaver, the Oracle of Tzeentch, and sentenced them to die"_

The Phantom Thieves reacted in time by dodging an immense sphere of energy that was thrown at them. The sphere was used in a large explosion that lifted a ton of rubble and opened a deep hole, as well as a ditch that formed very close to the casino; devastating half of the building.

The two Kairos heads observed that the Phantom Thieves had been divided into two teams: the first was made up of the talking cat Morgana, Skull, Fox and Crow, while the second was followed by Noir and three females with the code names of Panther, Oracle and Queen. Both teams had taken defensive positions and summoned their Persona by throwing their burning blue fire masks into the air.

Kairos was prepared, with the list of the various spells and spells in his mind to summon them.

"Let's go guys!" Morgana shouted, pointing with a mini saber at the Greater Daemon of Change. "Attack, Zorro!"

"You too, Captain Kidd!" Skull roared.

"Go for him, Robin Hood!" Crow roared.

"Goemon!" Fox pointed out with his katana.

The combined attack of the four Persona caused a serious boom of explosion, followed by a thickening smoke that formed. There was a slight movement, and the two-headed avian figure emerged with the beat of its blue wings.

"Did you survive our attack?!" Skull questioned irrelevantly.

"No," Crow said, pointing to the Greater Damon of Change in the night air. "I use a magic shield to protect ourselves from our attack"

Skull, Fox and Morgana looked at him, and realized that Crow was right: a translucent sphere enveloped the two-headed bird. A shield of protection invoked in a timely manner when the first team first launched the combined attack.

Kairos turned his cane in circles, forming a layer of sharp blue nebula with sharpness, and then transformed them into a torrent of arrows that shot fiercely downward, straight at the humans.

"Watch out!" Morgana shouted in panic, running from side to side, dodging the rain of downward arrows and causing gigantic explosions of great impact, lifting the rubble.

The Phantom Thieves ran in zigzagging patterns on the outskirts of the casino, trying to avoid being hit by an arrow-shaped lightning bolt exploding in each corner that they were trying to flee. They used their Persona to protect themselves, erasing the arrows with their fired attacks.

In the night sky, Kairos prepared to launch more lightning arrows, but his instinct warned him to be alert, as a danger was coming. He directed his two heads, and observed that a flying saucer was flying towards him. Kairos could feel with his perception to perceive the aura of the long orange-haired girl riding on the ship ... which should be her Persona, Necronomicon, according to a vision of the veil of the past.

The flying saucer fired several bursts of energy projectiles, and Kairos dodged them by flying in the opposite direction. He sped up the flight, taking her further up, where the orange-haired girl threw more shells in pursuit. Arriving at the top of the night sky level, Kairos flew in a round direction around the ship, making her tired when she acquired more speed.

With his opponent out of order, Kairos summoned a surge of energy that completely trapped the spacecraft, and whipped it with total force that threw it straight down.

Oracle shouted in panic to see it plummet; she pressed a button, and the ship disappeared in a dark blue smoke. Luckily, it was saved by Carmen, the Panther Persona, who deposited it on the ground.

"Thank you ... Panther ..." he said with Oracle numbness when breathing hard.

"You're welcome," Panther replied with a smile to cheer him up. "Are you okay?"

"... Yes ... I think so." Oracle looked up, swallowing. "That ... monster almost killed me. We've never fought an enemy like this before."

"There were many Shadows that we have fought," Morgana told him by joining the girls, along with Skull, Crow, Fox, Queen and Noir. "But he goes beyond our understanding. His aura is different, his power is different."

"He had said he came from a different world," Fox said. "Chaos ... the Inmaterium ... something like that I heard."

"Stay tuned!" Morgana called urgently, watching closely. "Try to fight back"

The Phantom Thieves took defensive positions, and watched as the Greater Daemon of Change traced circular movements with blue light patterns in the form of hexagons with its left hand and on its cane; an intensity of energy surrounded him, he raised both arms to the air, and great currents of air whipped the Phantom Thieves, who they endured so as not to fall.

The exclamations of the teenagers and the talking cat were stifled by the appearance of a row of electric lightning thunders in the sky and descended with a crash, hitting the ground of the damaged street and the craters formed with utmost ferocity. The fragments flew by the impacts, the fumes rose, and the lightning bolts fell on their designated targets.

The Phantom Thieves had no choice but to run with all their adrenalines they barely had to resist. Each of them was almost struck by a lightning bolt that passed near them. Morgana leaped from side to side on the street, while lightning devastated everything in its path. He observed that his teammates were trying to dodge them, but something bad caught his attention. Morgana was carried away by her instinct, and somehow, the same attack repeated with lightning was something else ... until she understood.

Morgana watched with fear as the two-headed bird flew over the ground, casting fire and electric spells at the Phantom Thieves who were clueless and vulnerable to their enemy's surprise attack.

Skull summoned Captain Kidd to attack with cannon balls, but they were reduced to ashes when Kairos cast a powerful spell. The counterattack destroyed Captain Kidd, and left Skull rolling on the ground. Fox went to help his friend by invoking Goemon while running. Goemon raised his pipe and lowered it against Kairos, but he used a cane to block it; he summoned a spell, and Goemon was thrown to the ground until it became smoke. Fox ran with his katana at hand to slash him in the back, until it was thrown that he let him crash into the glass of a store.

"Fox! Skull!" Panther shouted with concern when he saw his two defeated friends; He turned his gaze to Noir, Queen and Crow. "We must help them!"

They nodded and ran to the Greater Daemon of Change.

Morgana panicked at what she saw.

"Wait ... guys ... don't go ...!" his call choked by fear could not reach them on time.

Queen, riding her motorcycle, Johanna, sent several atomic attacks, while she was accompanied by three arrows from Robin Hood, Milady's missiles and Carmen's four fireballs. The same combined attack, the same defeat as the previous one. Kairos had redirected him by rotating him around and sending them to humans. Noir's three Persona, Panther and Crow were eliminated immediately, and their summoners had no choice but to fight the Greater Daemon of Change, which was a serious mistake on their part.

Panther moved his whip in circular motions, then made some blows, while Noir backed her with his ax. Kairos dodged them, as did the laser shots of Crow's weapon. The platinum blonde-haired human's whip with crimson panther mask rolled up on Kairos's staff, and he, grabbing with a supernatural force, pulled the cane that was curled up from the whip. Panther was shaken as she wagged in the air, then crashed into Crow.

"Panther!" Noir yelled, not realizing that an invisible force threw her like a doll and pushed her against the floor.

Seeing that it was time to leave the other member of the Phantom Thieves, Kairos's left hand formed a beam of light; He leaned it against the destroyed asphalt floor, and a powerful gust of light erupted, causing the Motorcycle-shaped Persona, Johanna, to come out devastated, and Queen sent against a local.

"He beat them ..." Oracle had said in a shaky and perplexed voice, accompanied by Morgana. "That thing beat them so easily ... He did it ..."

"Yes ... you're right about it," Morgana said in the same tone as Oracle; all the hairs of his cat body bristled like the thorns of a porcupine and with his heart beating like a drum. This enemy ... this demon was able to defeat his teammates with great ease. They had faced the most powerful Shadow in their entire lives in the Metaverse along with their companions, but this two-headed bird possessed a power that could match the Reaper of the last Mementos road. With a lot of sincerity, Morgana had experienced the real terror.

"Morgana" called Oracle scary. "It seems that he is seeing us"

Morgana looked at what Oracle was talking about, and noticed that the two carrion bird heads saw them. His glowing blue eyes made him feel more chills, piercing, and predatory. A bad sense of insecurity invaded him throughout his cat body, something worse was about to happen.

"Oracle, get behind me!" Morgana ordered, and the orange-haired girl nodded, getting behind him. He summoned his Persona, Zorro, who received a great impact of energy that made him disappear and make them both roll on the ground.

The cat groaned in pain when standing with difficulty.

"Oracle ... are you alright?" He asked his partner weakly.

"Yes ... I am ..." she replied as she stood up. "Thank you..."

"You're welcome ..." Morgana said when she let out a broken cough. The cat saw that all the members went to the two; they had bruises, scratches and blood coming out of their wounds, with damaged and torn clothes.

"We underestimate him ..." Skull muttered as he winced in pain.

"We attacked with all our potential ... but it seems we just made him have fun," Queen commented uncertainly.

The two heads squawked in what must have been a distorted and sickly laugh.

_"They fought with great spirit, I can admit that. But as I said before: you cannot defeat me by possessing the magic of Chaos that will allow me to win in this battle, something I have glimpsed in a future event ... Now is the time to end their pathetic lives"_ A great deal of bluish energy formed in the palm of Kairos's left hand, which began to gain volume at an increasing rate, transforming itself into a powerful nebula mass of small rays and glowing lights; getting bigger and more powerful. _"Bye, Phantom Thieves"_

With a slight movement with his hand, the concentrated energy was thrown like a ball, and a huge gigantic explosion made the entire Palace tremble until everything collapsed from the earthquake, collapsing the buildings and fragments of cement pieces began to emerge through the air, as the explosion hit a large mushroom that extended to the top.

Kairos observed the great crater he had created, knowing professionally that they had escaped using the Navigated at the right time when he launched his attack; That would be another note for the Tome of Destiny on his visit to the Palace and his fight against the Phantom Thieves. That attack would serve them with what forces they face, and their confrontation would be an indelible memory in their memories that would haunt them for the rest of eternity.

With both smiles of victory, Kairos opened a tear of reality, and entered it, heading for the Impossible Fortress, where experiments with the human would take place.

* * *

In a non-busy part of Shinjuku where the pedestrian crossing is and in front of a rest area, a ripple of reality had appeared, and from it came the Phantom Thieves in their civilian attires, somewhat exhausted when they landed on the sidewalk.

"Man ... that was the most extreme and the most frightening thing I have ever experienced," Ryuji said as he felt his breathing speed up and down every time he inspired air.

"I share your opinion, Ryuji," Yusuke told the teen with dyed blond hair, massaging his neck and stretching his arms.

"That thing almost kills us," Haru said with slight chills that ran through his body. "I had not felt fear in my whole life since my father fixed my commitment. That thing ... that monster beat us with ease"

"Even with the help of our Persona, we couldn't even against him," Ann muttered, with both hands in her arms as she trembled. "You're right to be afraid of that monster, Haru"

"His strength and his power went beyond all the Shadows we have fought in the Palaces" Makoto had commented to the group. "Honestly, I never thought we'd never run into something other than a Shadow"

Everyone nodded.

"His magic was able to catch me inside Necronomicon when he fought with him in the sky" Futaba shuddered. "Just remembering that I almost crashed into the ground makes me filled with fright ... I was in a panic when I thought I was going to die"

"We were all going to die, Futaba," Morgana said in the form of a domestic cat in an anguishing and tangent tone. "That monster ... that being called Kairos was able to kill us all without hesitation." His tone turned bleak. "Guys, we face a very powerful enemy from a different dimension than the Metaverse. Somehow he managed to open a portal in the Palace and killed all SIU squads very easily; not to mention that he kidnapped Ren and sent him to its dimension" Morgana lowered her head sadly. "We couldn't do anything to rescue him"

The group that made up the Phantom Thieves plunged into depressed and sad expressions knowing that their leader would never return. Tears began to flow down her cheeks, especially Futaba, who burst into tears with despair; Haru gave him affection by hugging him, sharing his pain for the loss of the person who changed their lives and caused them to be reborn against a corrupt society.

The loss of their leader, Ren Amamiya, was a deep blow to them. Without him, the Phantom Thieves had never been born and had never met. Ren's figure was a beacon for them in the midst of mowing mists that clouded them, and that light was gone, kidnapped by a horrible two-headed blue avian creature with superior magical power. Now they had to face a harsh reality without having their pillar of hope that held them together.

Clenching his fists with enough force that he cracked his fingers, Ryuji ran to Goro Akechi, and punched him in his left eye. The young detective groaned in pain as he fell against the floor; he tried to ask a question, but was drowned by a number of blows to his face by an angry Ryuji Sakamoto.

Yusuke and Makoto managed to stop him by putting his arms on him and pulling him away from Akechi who was on the floor, with his eye swollen and blood flowing through his nostrils.

"Ryuji, control yourself now!" Yusuke scolded him angrily.

"Control me!" Ryuji replied with bitterness and anger. "Do you want me to calm down for hitting this damn bastard for using us in his fucking revenge plan against Shido?! Well, Ja!"

"Enough of a damned time now!" Makoto sentenced him, raising his voice, and observed if there were any pedestrians watching them fight, and sighed with relief that they were in a non-traveled area.

"You always act like a douchebag all the time!" Ann said with a withering look from her light blue eyes. "It's not the moment you act like one"

Ryujo growled with a start, and reluctantly nodded reluctantly.

"Fine ..." he said harshly, sagging from both of them and regaining calm.

"It is not uncommon for you to have lost your temper," Morgana said, frowning at him, and directed her cat eyes toward Akechi, who had risen from the ground, with wrinkled clothes and a black eye for him. blow, like your cheeks; he covered his nose with his gloved hand, preventing more blood from coming out of his nostrils. "Talk now, Akechi. You have nothing to hide with your lies anymore, everything has been revealed by that two-headed bird in the Palace of Sae Niijima. It's time to tell us everything"

Goro Akechi grimaced, suppressing the pain he felt as he moved his jaw struck by Sakamoto's fist. He ducked his head, without looking at their faces, with his brown hair covering his eyes. He took a breath, and began to tell them the truth: his mother's suicide for having fallen in love with Shido when she gave birth to him, his deep rancor in revenge, the power of Persona and the application of the Metaverse that had appeared out of nowhere, his use to promote mental attacks and his assassination tactics on Shido's orders in his attempt to gain his trust and manipulate him to accomplish his mission.

"That's it," Akechi had finished bitterly and regretfully. "All the revelation that that two-headed blue bird had told was true, to the last drop. I killed and manipulated to gain the trust of Shido and his corrupt circle. I murdered Kunikazu Okumura because it represented a danger in rebelling Shido's accomplices, including director Kobayakwa. The blackout was part of Shido's plan to make everyone hate them ... But ... nothing makes sense to me anymore. All SIU units were eliminated and Ren has been kidnapped. catching them in the Palace has been in vain"

After finishing his explanation, an icy icy silence covered the tense icy atmosphere that hovered the group. Everyone showed faces of uncertainty upon hearing all the information given by the young detective; They showed anger, horror and disgust, but ultimately, compassion. They felt compassion for him, knowing that he had generated all calamities by his act of revenge regardless of its consequence ... Even so, he was a human being, and human beings made mistakes, both for good and for evil; Goro Akechi was an example of that.

After another second of intense silence, Haru spoke solemnly:

"You killed my father, and I hate you for that ... but now, everything is already confusing. I don't know if I should forgive you or not"

Akechi nodded without saying anything; he turned, turning his back on the Phantom Thieves, staring at the sidewalk.

"I better go; my presence only bothers them. It is not necessary to forgive me for the damage I have caused"

He left the place, losing himself in the distance when he redoubled to a corner.

Silence plunged the group again.

"So, what can we do now?" asked Futaba uncertainly.

"Nothing," Morgana said heavily, ducking her head and lowering her ears. "There is nothing we can do"

"Ren ..." Haru murmured sadly.

"You heard Morgana's answer, Haru," Yusuke said harshly, looking at the sidewalk. "Our leader is no longer with us ... maybe forever"

That comment made the tension more drastic.

"Makoto" Ann called her friend. "Do you still have the Treasury?"

She groaned.

"Yes ... I have it ..." tears came down her cheeks, and her voice broke. "... It's all that remains as a memory of our successes with Ren ..."

Unable to endure any more, Makoto burst into tears, just as Ann did when they hugged to share the pain together, crying in unison. Futaba shared the same sadness, followed by Haru. Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana could not bear to see how the girls cried, and they tried to endure, but could not fall into their own depression and despair over the kidnapping.

At that moment, the Phantom Thieves succumbed to crying and defeat by the kidnapping of their great leader.

* * *

In his apartment, Makoto had learned that the change of heart of his older sister, Sae, had come into effect.

The old attitude of his sister determined to catch them had taken a complete turn; her expression of tiredness and decay was reflected in her face, remembering the Shadow in the form of a diva in the Palace when she was defeated ... but this was her sister, her true older sister. It was the Sae who had always taken care of her since she was a minor after her father's death. It was the Sae who was always pending when fulfilling her role as head of the house. It was the Sae who always came home tired and barely talked mundane things. In front of her reddish brown eyes, was a defeated and repentant Sae.

"Even so ... they could reform me ... you can believe it" commented his older sister with a weak smile and a hilarious tone. "I have worked hard enough to keep this city safe, and out of nowhere, by surprise of fate, they managed to change me" She groaned tiredly. "I think I should let the Phantom Thieves continue with theirs, at least they would do all the work, and I would have a great free time. I will be with you to have a good time, as sisters." Sae smiled cordially. "Don't you think, Makoto?"

Makoto didn't know what to say about it, but something was something; his reformation had completely changed his sister, sweeping her out of all guilt and all sin, just like all the Shadows in the various Palaces. This was a new Sae Niijima now.

"Sister ..." Makoto muttered under his breath, not knowing what to say, but he replied with a forced smile: "Yes. I would love to spend all your time with you"

Both hugged affectionately.

"Well ... I better take a bath and then rest, I had a very tiring job today"

Makoto nodded silently, watching her sister go to her room to change. As she had entered, tears slid down his cheeks.

_'We have done it, Ren ...'_ Makoto thought depressedly, thinking that his leader was not on this world.

* * *

Goro Akechi had reached his own apartment when he slammed the door. He had walked the block from the streets of Shibuya with indifference to the public's gaze for his condition. He really didn't give a shit about his own state and his own image that the media used him as an advertising campaign to enlist young people to join the force of the law. He didn't really care about anything now; everything could go to hell ... the only thing that interested him was to rest and forget everything, he heard me.

But first, he had to call Shido when informing him of what had happened.

He dialed the number on his touch phone, and the call went into the third ring.

_"Akechi"_ Shido's demanding voice was heard with enough authority, he disliked hearing it. _"Well? How was the mission? Did you catch them? Did you capture a member of the Phantom Thieves?"_

The young detective hesitated, but he had no choice but to tell the truth to his hated parent.

_"You have to be kidding me!"_ It burst from the other line with irritation._ "I better not be a stupid trick of something like this happening! This is completely ...!"_

"Mr. Shido" Akechi cut him dryly and seriously in his voice. "I assure you with great honesty that what I just saw with my own eyes is an irreputable proof that something like that happened. I fought against that creature and it defeated me, as did the Phantom Thieves. I almost died in the Palace if the Navigator would not have been activated. What I saw, and what I witnessed, is not something I have seen. I am speaking, mr. Shido, of a new threat that could cause the end as we know it. That two-headed bird is proof that, sooner or later, the true end is about to begin at this precise moment. There is already a possibility that its leader will become a kind of powerful monster or demon, and I would not risk my life in dying against this threat"

There was intense silence in the call, until Shido regained his speech, stunned.

_"I see ... we better discuss it another time. I'll call you if necessary if I get to a point in this ... situation"_

"Good," said Akechi, hanging up the call and hovering it against the bed, while lying against the pillowed surface.

He groaned in frustration as he buried his head in the pillow; his head did not stop beating at the intense pain of speaking, panting at the feel of his jaw struck by the moron of Ryuji Sakamoto to take out his anger and anger against him, hitting him as if he were a punching bag ... in addition to the serious wounds that he had received for that two-headed blue bird that could see the past and the future.

Discussing his frustration against Shido made him feel weaker than he was. The fight against the two-headed bird (whose name was Kairos) left him very badly wounded and with some bones creaking. But, what scared and surprised him the most was that the bird knew everything about its past when it was revealed to the Phantom Thieves: his sad childhood, and his ability as a Persona ... especially his ability as a Persona.

According to the bird, Kairos was called, his appearance of the power to manifest each different Persona and the application of the Metaverse, was that everything was planned by cognitive deity called Yaldabaoth had chosen him as a pawn to know if humanity deserved salvation or submission under his will. Both he and Ren Amamiya were pawns in a chess game; Ren Amamiya would be the one representing salvation, while he would be destruction.

Both pieces would fight in a fight to the death in knowing who the winner would be, while the puppetist Yaldabaoth would move the threads from the shadows in effecting the so-called "Conspiracy" that would accelerate his influence on the circle of Shido, and bring with him the true destruction, to then be submitted under the new order of Yaldabaoth as the highest ruler and possible "One God" over humanity.

But the threads of his plan had taken a different course; the appearance of a creature from another dimension had hindered his plans, and the plotted course was completely changed by an unidentified anomaly that appeared in the planned scheme ... the turns that give life ... especially new beings They could change everything that happened.

Snorting, Akechi closed both eyes, letting the dream possess him.

* * *

In a place located between the world of dreams and the world of reality, a large room surrounded by circular cells reigned a great icy silence from beyond the grave.

Inside, its occupants showed overwhelming expressions of discomfort, as well as being pale with fear.

"Justine ... you can feel it, right?" an eleven-year-old girl with police clothes and a hat over her braided platinum blonde hair and a patch on her left eye told her; His tone denoted panic.

"... Yes, Caroline, I felt it too," said her twin sister in a hesitant and terrified voice; her platinum blonde hair was horse-shaped and had a patch on her right eye. "Something bad just happened" Justine turned her gaze to her master who sat at her desk. "Master, what happened?"

His master is an older man of average height hunched in his chair, illuminated by the light of the lamp on the ceiling. His head was bald, except for his gray-gray hair that surrounded him by the edge of his head; He had a long nose and jet eyes and bloodshot corneas. The outfit worn by the older man was a black suit with a white shirt. His name was Igor, the owner of the Velvet Room.

"I felt it too, my girls," said the owner in a husky and rough voice, added with a touch of fear in his expression with wrinkles on his temples. "Something terrible ... very terrible just happened, and worse, this presence ... this unknown being with a very old and powerful power had just kidnapped the Trickster"

The expressions of the twins became horrified.

"The Trickster has been kidnapped!" exclaimed with exasperation and fear Caroline. "It can't be ... how is that possible?!"

"It's his power, Caroline," Igor said grimly in a deep voice. "His friends tried to help him, but they were defeated when they faced this presence. Both they and their Persona were not able to beat him; the power of this being surpassed them. I'm afraid we'll never see our beloved Trickster again"

The twins shuddered with fear, and their horrified expressions intensified more intensely.

"The Trickster ... kidnapped," Justine said fearfully. "If the Trickster has been kidnapped ..." His golden eye narrowed. "That means the power of the Wildcard is in your hands!"

Caroline froze.

"No ..." she said breathlessly. "With a Wildcard user in his possession ... no ..." he left the word in the air, not wanting to know what would happen next.

"I fear that our guest's rehabilitation trip has taken an opposite path without anticipation," replied the owner of the Velvet Room in anguish. "The catastrophe that was going to hit humanity has been altered by this recent anomaly. This new threat has changed everything ... the scenario is no longer the same, but a new one"

"And what is this new threat, master?" Justine asked curiously, as did her twin sister who was also intrigued. "And what is the change about the Trickster's rehabilitation?"

Igor let out a heavy groan, in turn with an annoying growl.

"Everything," said the owner of the Velvet Room hoarsely. "Everything has been changed, Justine. His rehabilitation went to the background without importance, and the catastrophe that would strike humanity was replaced by a series of ancient forces that had been sleeping for millennia since the beginning of time. This threat, my girls, it's unstoppable. Not even the Trickster's group, the Phantom Thieves, will be able to control it ... I have the fear that everything is about to end, and there is nothing we can do"

The twins swallowed, pale with fear at the words of their master regarding the little hope that humanity can survive.

The Velvet Room plunged into a ghostly silence; there was no objection by the twins to contradict him ... they had nothing to answer for.

However, for Igor, or rather, for Yaldabaoth, the cognitive deity who had possessed him and submitted the Velvet Room to the Metaverse, felt annoyed and furious. His entire plan beforehand to test humanity whether or not he deserved salvation had failed. He had been robbed of his most precious puppet with the power of the Wildcard in front of him, and not even the Phantom Thieves could rescue him ... That made him very angry ... Everything was beginning to crumble around him.

There was nothing the God of Control could do. Facing this new threat would be a risk if he used all his power to defend everything he had built. I couldn't let everything fall. I would have to do something. But ... if he only did it, then he would also lose; since I didn't know exactly how powerful the next invaders would be when they appeared sooner or later.

Only one thing was certain ... and it was that Yaldabaoth had experienced true fear.

* * *

Futaba had walked alone with Morgana loaded in his arms to his house throughout the Yongen-Jaya district with an air of sadness. She herself had decided to tell Sojiro about Ren's abduction at the Palace; her friends tried to help her do it as a team, but she rejected them ... only she would do it, and it hurt a lot to tell the truth to the man who was a father to her, and to Ren.

The afternoon sun had descended on the horizon, leaving the tone of the color of the sky to turn a dark blue, where the first stars appeared as if it were to stage a lamp. The lights of the buildings and shops illuminated the entire city in the middle of the night's arrival. The entire city of Shibuya was illuminated, and citizens still frequented the avenues, passing through the open premises in the various districts that Shibuya had.

Futaba had red eyes from crying so much under his glasses, in turn he had snored. His throat was compressed in a lump, as he walked between the tents, toward his home, where Sojiro was waiting for them inside.

"I don't know how Sojiro will react when he finds out that Ren has been kidnapped," she said, her voice weak and her eyes down.

"He will understand, Futaba" Morgana replied with a purr in his arms, giving him affection and affection. His voice waned. "Although it can also impact you upon receiving the news. We have no other choice."

She groaned.

"It is true..."

She had come to her house, and a deep nostalgia invaded her; It was here for the first time that Ren and his friends had come to reform his heart, and also the other times when he had shared with her various tastes in his room, in addition to having breakfast together, as a family member ... and now that memory shattered the harsh reality that her fraternal figure was no longer with her.

She rang the doorbell, the door opened, emerging from it Sojiro in a gray shirt with stripes and black pants; his face denoted the greatest age when he saw his wrinkles at his temples. Brown hair had passed backwards, and he still wore his unshaven beard.

Sojiro asked about Ren, and she told him that he was going to tell her what happened when she entered inside. After the two sat in the living room, Futaba, sitting in an armchair with Morgana in her lap, decided to tell the truth to the owner of Caffe Leblanc about what happened at the Palace of Sae Niijima. Having finished telling everything, Sojiro Sakura had been stunned, shocked and sad.

"It can't be ... no ..." said the man, speechless, and with tears coming out of his eyes. "Ren ..."

She shared her pain.

"It's true, everything is true. We will never see Ren again ... now he is in a different dimension" his voice became an air of despair. "They may be torturing him while we talk ..."

Sojiro didn't want to imagine it, he didn't want to imagine the boy he had taken under his care being horribly tortured by those monsters for mere perversity, or worse yet ...

What was he going to be now? What would you say to your parents about it if they came to ask about Ren's welfare? He could not reveal the boy's hidden life to his parents ... they would take him very deep, and blame him for not caring for him while he was under his protection ... even less that he had been kidnapped by a two-headed blue bird that he could see The past and the future.

I didn't know what I could do now.

The house was filled with sadness when stepfather and adopted daughter embraced by sharing the tragedy that they would never see Ren Amamiya for the rest of their lives.

* * *

**See you in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I thank you for the support in this story that I am doing, thank you very much.**

**In addition: many see Yaldabaoth as YHVH of SMT, and it is true that Yaldabaoth is the version of YHVH in the universe of Persona, but only Chaos affects the universe of Persona; neither the demons of Lucifer, nor Takuto Maraki with his two Persona (Adam Kadmon y Azathoth) can against the Gods of Chaos; including Screaming God-Child and Malal, as well as the Tyranids and C'tans.**

**The plot of this story is set in the original Persona 5, not Royal.**

**All criticisms and comments are welcome.**

* * *

In a large room with mother-of-pearl tiles, oyster-colored walls, candlesticks on the roofs that sprouted fires, and other extravagant ornaments that were seen on every hectare of the room, a portal had been opened inside a golden ornate mirror. The creatures, which were similar to carrion birds and gray-blue-skinned humanoid beings with horns and wizards' robes with staff and beautiful jewels, had gathered in the portal; Kairos left her, carrying Ren Amamiya with her phantom thieve attire wrapped in a nebula; He was still asleep because of the spell cast.

Kairos gestured to a Chaos Sorcerer to approach him, and one of them with a pale blue skin and deep yellow corneas with black pupils bowed to him. The Chaos Sorcerers had been normal individuals in their ancient mortal lives, but they could not resist the temptation of the Dark Gods through manipulations that caused them to leave their mortal lives and congregate eternally to Chaos. All of them were masters in the mystical arts and in the knowledge of the forbidden and in the arcane. Many of the Chaos Sorcerers are linked to a Chaos entity that swore fidelity in exchange for power, such is the case of the worshipers of Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh; except for Khorne, since the God of Blood hated magic and did not accept any sorcerer in his demonic ranks and among his worshipers.

"My lord Kairos," the Chaos Sorcerer said respectfully, having his head down and then lifting it. "I assume your hunt was a success"

_"It was"_ Kairos gestured with his staff to the sleeping leader of the Phantom Thieves.

"This will be done, Lord Kairos," replied the Chaos Sorcerer, gesturing to his companions to help him transport the sleeping human to one of the rooms where experiments were conducted with the various living beings and souls they captured and subjected in the mortal tests of experimentation. The human Ren Amamiya, leader of the Phantom Thieves of Heart and user of Wildcard, would be tested without resisting the magic of Chaos.

Kairos left the room and entered a huge and straight corridor with tiles and ornate walls of a whitish oyster with bronze patterns and embedded jewels. The hand-carved wooden arches were adorned in the vast ceiling that extended as Kairos walked down the hallway lit by blue torches. The extensive place and constituted by several corridors that led to several rooms and halls with valuable and extravagant objects that no mortal could imagine, not to mention that everything is inhabited by terrifying and frightening creatures taken from the worst nightmares come true.

The Impossible Fortress, as the name implies, was a construction that was in the center of the Crystal Labyrinth, but that varied according to the perspectives of a daemon or a mortal soul that saw for the first time the mysterious esoteric construction that exceeded the limits of rational understanding. The Impossible Fortress constantly changed by the magic that is formed; many have described it as a crystalline castle composed of the same material of the Labyrinth. The doors and gates open slowly, as if yawning by the tedium of ages, only to close like mouths of terrible beasts and then disappear. Even the most visionary designers of the mortal realm (including sorcerers and human magicians of the High and Low Middle Ages) were unable to write plans for the maddening architecture of the Impossible Fortress. Few daemons, except the most powerful Lords of Change, can navigate their halls normally, as they are intelligent distillations that make up the kingdom of Tzeentch.

The walk through the halls led Kairos into a great chamber as he passed through the great and majestic marble ornaments. Inside, there were not only thousands, but millions of books around them filled in their vast shelves that were located in each sector and in each corner. The Hidden Library was a vast and vast chamber that stored a whole collection of volumes, manuscripts and scrolls ever recorded in Creation: written and unwritten stories; true and alternate stories; tales of potential futures, real and imaginary. Many of the volumes are so heavy for knowledge that they gain a kind of feeling and spend centuries chatting with passersby, arguing with each other, rewriting and then reorganizing their location accordingly; Warpflame chains help protect books and unite them instead.

Walking through the Hidden Library, Kairos watched with his two heads as the Horrors made their guards, while others loaned in their breaks like taking long naps. The Horrors were grotesque creatures of blue and pink colors with medium sizes and thin limbs; some had faces on their abdomen, while others had crescent-shaped heads. They were small and naughty, but they were powerful in the magical and psychic arts, in addition to serving as librarians in their tireless work to re-archive the works, catalog the collection and keep what happens in order in the Impossible Fortress, although as the concept in itself is anathema to the Great Sorcerer God, no mortal could understand such a design.

On his walk, Kairos had reached his destination: in the farthest part of the Library, he was facing two imposing giant dark blue marble doors with golden ivory paths that exuded a heavy and twisted aura. The huge doors opened in a ghostly way with a high pitched sound, and inside, there was a mist of darkness with some lights shining with its blue touch.

Kairos Fateweaver entered undeterred at the dark aspect of entering the domain of the Changer of Ways. The doors closed behind him, remaining immense in a huge cave built majestically with pillars where the blue tone of the warped flames and a ceiling with symmetrical patterns shone. In the center, a nebula had appeared, surrounded by a sinister and changing aura with intonations of lights. The nebula grew, and from that growth, the figure of a humanoid with thin limbs and crossed legs began to form, meditating without touching the floor, suspended in the air. He had no head, but a gloomy and calculating face protruding from his torso. It has two gigantic horns that sprouted from its shoulders that moved in a meandering and flexible way with horrifying faces. His skin was made up of several faces that spoke in whispers to each other and muttered in an insane way if someone had a sharp ear to listen to them.

That was one of the ways in which Tzeentch always appeared in his all majesty in front of his followers, but he could change anything at will, since it was the personification of change.

A smoke flowed around him, but it was magic composed of the Warp that formed puzzling silhouettes that crisscrossed each other.

_"Kairos"_ Tzeentch spoke with authority to his vizier,

_"I did it, my lord,"_ Kairos said as he bowed his two heads with respect and nobility before his god.

_"Ah!"_ exclaimed the Architect of Destiny with emotion to know a change of event that only he delighted in redirecting the course to another place. The Phantom Thieves were a group of young humans who were dedicated to the reformation of the corrupt side of adults and youth through the use of Metaverse to make them expire their sins. For Tzeentch, the Phantom Thieves, were his favorite mortals on his knowledge board. _"How strong was the performance of the Phantom Thieves during your arrival at the Palace?"_

_"The Phantom Thieves gave all their fighting spirits to face me, my lord. They summoned their Persona in battle; their attacks were powerful, but I could defeat them."_

_"Hmm, interesting, very interesting,"_ Tzeentch replied with a song of fun in his tone of voice. The Persona were manifestations of the psyche of the individual upon being awakened in the deepest of the mind, the Phantom Thieves had awakened their Persona through the traumatic experiences by releasing the spirit of rebellion within him that he had been sleeping in. It was also known that there were Persona users in the past for the first time in a high school, and that the Phantom Thieves was the fifth generation of Persona summoners. But what excited Tzeentch the most was the prize he had won by sending his vizier. _"I assume you brought our prey"_

"The leader of the Phantom Thieves, Ren Amamiya, was sent to the experimentation area. We are waiting for his order to start," Kairos confirmed.

_"Do it,"_ Tzeentch ordered enthusiastically. _"Ren Amamiya is a user with the ability to invoke several Persona, whose ability is called Wildcard; which makes it very valuable for me"_

_"Of course, my lord"_

_"And before you go, I want you to tell me if there was a change of events with your arrival"_

_"There was, my lord,"_ Kairos said with perseverance: _"The scheme planned by Yaldabaoth to dominate the mortal plane took a different course. I cannot see the present, but the future. Everything changed during my arrival. Ren Amamiya was the key piece where he would represent salvation in the midst of a decadent and corrupt society with the use of the Metaverse application. He would be arrested and tortured until he was visited by a prosecutor named Sae Niijima who is obsessed with climbing posts in questioning, regardless at all his bad state. After telling him all the information about the beginnings of the Phantom Thieves, he would be executed by Goro Akechi in the room, to gain his father's approval and be able to take revenge on him; but that was only a trap devised by the Phantom Thieves in knowing that Goro Akechi was the traitor, having prosecutor Sae Niijima as an accomplice and team would meet at Palace Masayoshi Shido in reforming it as payment of vendetta for the evil he had caused in his corrupt election campaign to be elected as Prime Minister of Japan. However, they would have to face Goro Akechi, but this time transformed into his true form as a Black Mask. After the battle with Ren Amamiya where he would be defeated, he would be executed by the cognitive soldiers of Masayoshi Shido; that this would be defeated by the combined power of the Phantom Thieves and reformed. The group would find out their reform plan was a failure: citizens shouted his name under Yaldabaoth's mind control as a strategy in guiding the Phantom Thieves to the center of Mementos, and where they would fight against their heart: the Holy Grail. But as I said, the scheme was changed, and its success in mastering the earthly plane will not be possible. It was all over for the false god with the kidnapping of Ren Amamiya"_

Tzeentch let out a distorted and sick laugh that echoed throughout the great chamber. That laugh was to be dead of fear, but for a higher level daemon like Greater Daemon, it was to flinch; but if you failed him, you would die without caring if he resurrected you again.

_"Well done, Kairos! You did an excellent job sending you as my best option."_ That was true: Kairos was a Greater Daemon and a Lord of Change with the ability to see the past and the future in both of his heads after being thrown into the Well of Eternity by Tzeentch himself in unraveling that mysterious place that he found dangerous to expose his life. After a long eternity in the Well, Kairos gained his ability to see the veil of the past and the future, but not of the present that was blind to him. He was the only one who whispered things he didn't know at all and was transcribed in his book through his visions._ "I want you to test our dear guest. I want to see if he can resist our magic and torments that we can put into him. The whole result must be analyzed and copied. Go now and start the tests!"_

_"This will be done, my lord."_ Kairos bowed as he left the chamber through the enormous doors that had been opened during his departure.

Being alone, Tzeentch kept laughing and radiating an aura that put the camera heavy. Everything was running according to his plan, everything was planned at the exact moment when he sent Kairos to the Palace. He knew very well that Yaldabaoth represented a nuisance to him and to the rest of his brothers who competed for power and dominion. The loss of one of his puppets on his game board would facilitate the advantage of getting rid of that scum that dominates himself "God of Control", but it was nothing more than a vague deity created by the thoughts that only his environment uses to favor his position in submitting the earthly plane to its authority. He was wrong, Yaldabaoth was wrong that there were ancient forces that transcended and lived on dimensional planes, and one of them was Chaos, the primordial force that ruled the universe.

Tzeentch was known for his titles of Grand Deceiver and Manipulator of Destiny, because he manipulated the life of mortals at his own whim and sowed the seeds of intrigues and conspiracies in personal ambitions. He had seen how gods like Nyarlathotep, Nyx and Izanami planned to take the world of humans, the Earth, for their own convenience, and Tzeentch weaned them into being reaped by their own egos who believe they are powerful for carrying the title of god. That was a serious of them! The Inmaterium was home to the most powerful and strong entities and daemons that have existed during the flow of psychic energy by reflecting the perverse side of the universe.

Nyarlathotep wanted the world to succumb to anarchy. Nyx wanted to give the motherly desire to kill the suffering of humans. Izanami wanted everyone to live in ignorance of a lie instead of facing reality ... As for Yaldabaoth, he only wants all humans to live under his strict authority.

They were despicable. They were the scum of uncertainty mowed by their undervalued ambitions that was nothing more than simple orthodox stupidities.

The rules of the Great Game had completely changed. It was necessary to remove the nuisance that bothered him and let him know that there were only deities who were older and powerful.

Soon the time would come when he, and his brothers, would invade the earthly plane on Earth, and demonstrate the real terror in opposing Chaos.

* * *

The first thing Ren Amamiya did was to wake up from the sunstroke of the dream that had completely dominated him. His vision was barely stabilizing in the middle of a distorted blur. His body was numb and sore, as if he had caught a cold that put him in a decayed state.

Everything was blurry, he barely remembered some fragments that came to his mind like flashes of a camera: the Palace, the defeat of Shadow Sae, the infiltration of SIU, his sacrifice in preventing his friends from being trapped ... his kidnapping!

Ren's gray eyes widened as he remembered how he had been shrouded in a strange mist by that two-headed anthropomorphic blue bird had appeared through a portal that opened like a tear in the Palace of the older sister of Makoto; and recalled how that monster had killed a whole group of professionally trained officers in any kind of extreme situation; but they were not prepared to be removed so easily by that two-headed bird with strange ornaments. He was taken by surprise by the two-headed bird when he was in shock when he saw the officers who had caught him die, bathing with his blood as he exploded. It was horrible to see.

When Ren tried to get up, he felt pain when he did. Grimacing, he looked around with his eyes, and realized that he was in a room that was unrecognizable, and at the same time strange. It was rectangular and spacious, with polished walls of a bluish mother of pearl and some shelves full of jars with different types of liquids and some medical instruments. He spotted three majestically carved portfolios with elegant chairs and lined with indigo leather. There was a rectangular glass window that only saw a blurry blur and a dark blue ornate door with a teardrop-like feather print with an eagle eye, making it shudder to remember the staff that carried that two-headed bird. He shook his head as he left that memory aside and tried to get up, but it was useless.

He was lying on a table, tied with shining ties on his bare torso, except his pants and shoes were still in place, but not with his vest and raincoat that were stripped, like his mask.

Honestly, Ren didn't know what had happened to him while he was unconscious, but one thing was certain; they were going to use it as a subject of experimentation, something he had already learned in Tae Takemi's office to use his narcotics in the Metaverse against the strongest Shadows he and his friends were. But this was different; he was captured and brought to this place where they would use him to study and subject him to dangerous tests to see if he could resist. Just thinking about it made him shudder at the fear he was trying to suppress so as not to panic.

He was screwed, he could agree on that.

_'Master!'_ Urgently spoke a familiar voice that comforted him in his state of fear. It was Arsene, his Persona, his spirit of rebellion that was awakened during his imprisonment in Kamoshida Palace along with Ryuji._ 'Master! It's a pleasure to be awake. I don't know where we are when that monster captures you, but I can feel that everything is different. The energy in this room is heavy and tense, opposite to that of the Metaverse. I suggest you stay calm. Something is coming'_

Ren observed silhouettes that passed through the blurry window; the door opened, and from it came the bird with two heads, followed by three humanoids of gray-blue skin with horns and indigo blue robes with ornate design canes and wore golden-striped armor. The room was heavy in the presence of the four beings that emanated.

_"I see that you have finally woken up, human,"_ the two-headed bird spoke in his distorted and spectral voice; he felt uncomfortable being struck with his eyes. "_The important thing about your state is that you stay strong to perform some tests. Tzeentch is excited to see what you are capable of resisting our methods. You are a user with the ability to invoke multiple of your Persona; we will see if they are strong in stay alive"_ The bird with two heads made a gesture to the two humanoid beings with robes put themselves in each corner of their bed, where round circuits of energy formed in their hands. The third had sat at the desk, where he placed a leather-bound book stamped by an eight-pointed star with an eye in the center; he opened it and began scribbling on the blank page with a pen.

Ren swallowed hard.

_"You don't have to fear, it won't hurt much, or possibly if"_ Kairos shrugged indifferently. _"But we will see your greatest energy efficiency which is what matters to us. You are a valuable specimen, Ren Amamiya, very valuable ... It will hurt a little, but you will get used to it. Start now."_

The circuits lit up with intensity, and from them, the glowing strokes swept through his naked torso until traced by his face.

At first, he felt dizzy and heavy, then came headaches, and then the burning, and from it, he let out a cry of suffering that echoed like an echo in the room.

* * *

On the roof of the Shujin Academy, the group, with the exception of Yusuke who was in his own school, was in a decayed mood after three days after the abduction of their leader in the Palace of Sae Niijima by that two-bird blue monster Heads that almost killed them.

The days they were were the most depressing in not seeing him in his classroom, or in the Leblanc helping Sojiro Sakura. Makoto had to explain a false testimony in Ren Amamiya was ill not to raise suspicion, but rumors regarding his image as a teenager with a criminal record made him raise a bad reputation in his absence.

Yuuki Mishima asked about his whereabouts, but Ryuji didn't say anything, just like Ann and Makoto. Haru explained that it was difficult to tell about his condition, preventing her from breaking into tears in front of him.

The four had their eyes lost on the horizon, where the light of only illuminated the sky covered with clouds in the modern panorama of the city of Shibuya. In the distance you could hear the sounds of cars and motorcycles passing by the motorways, as well as the murmur of citizens in their daily lives, without knowing that there was a pocket world created by their distorted hearts, and where a group of marginalized young people reformed them. Until everything changed by the appearance of a new threat.

"Everything feels different," Ryuji replied melancholy with folded arms and blue eyes on buildings and skyscrapers. "It's as if everything has changed from one moment to the morning"

"Since Ren was kidnapped, nothing is the same," Ann said heavily, looking at the asphalt on the roof. "It's as if he hadn't existed"

Haru did not answer, he only groaned sadly at the thought that the boy with whom he had taken a course in his life as a bird in a cage had disappeared forever. She cried in her room until she fell asleep. Milady comforted her, but it didn't help her cure him of her depression.

"Makoto," she replied as she looked at the student council president, "how was your sister's change?"

"She ... she has completely changed," Makoto told her with a high and low. "Sae has taken it as if he had faced defeat. She left his obsession with chasing us into his job and took me to a break in the hot springs and spent time together. But that break didn't make me feel good. I miss Ren"

Ryuji clenched his fists tightly; He got up from the sidewalk and placed both hands on the rail, letting his anguish and annoyance relax as he watched the modern panorama of the city, but only made him even more tense. Ren Amamiya was the first person to have met him when he had run down the street in rainy weather when he was late for class. His meeting at the stop and his first trip to Metaverse had taken a turn in his life; his awakening of his Persona had fueled him in a world ruled by the corrupt and the despots: making Kamoshida release all his falsehood made him feel relieved and happy.

Now, his best friend was no longer with him on the rooftop where they met to chat and hang out to admire the view of the city.

He clenched his teeth and let out an angry growl.

"That bastard two-headed monster. If it hadn't taken me long to get out of my panic trance, I would have saved Ren. But ..." he decided to shut up and not speak, since he only put him in a bad mood.

"I share your pity, Ryuji," Makoto replied with understanding. "We would all have done the same, but the result would be the same: Ren would be kidnapped anyway if we arrived on time. Our experience in combat against Shadows didn't help us much when we faced that two-headed bird. He was an enemy in that we had never fought, his powers and strength made us hit the wall. He beat us so easily, just like our Persona"

"You're right about it," Ryuji said in a low tone when he bowed his head. "That thing almost killed us if we hadn't left the Palace. It eradicated the entire SIU unit as if it wasn't a big deal. Seeing them die makes me fearful."

The three girls shared the same thought with him: on the roof of the casino that overlooked the weather, the group watched in horror as that two-headed bird, Kairos, killed the SIU troops by simply summoning a surge of electricity that the decimated completely. That bitter memory tormented them in their dreams.

"It was something that was out of our expectation," Haru said after being silent without saying anything. "He knew everything about us: both our private lives and our past lives" she shuddered. "Even from our plan to save Ren if he was caught by the SIU"

"That if half scared, but above all that Akechi was responsible for causing mental disturbances on subway trains," Ryuji said, then grimaced. "Until we knew he was Shido's son"

The three girls nodded.

"He did bad things, but he did it because of his ambition to take revenge on him, regardless of the consequences of his actions," Haru replied. "All he wants is to see Shido surrendered at his feet because of his mother's death"

"Shido ..." Ryuji muttered with anger and hate. "That bastard deserves to be punished for all the atrocities he has committed: he killed Futaba's mother to use Metaverse at his convenience, made deal with Kaneshiro and Madarame to finance his election campaign, used Akechi as executor in the deaths of direct Kobayakwa and Kunikazu Okumura to discredit us as the real culprits, he has the SIU as his personal army. No. I can't stand that Shido feels comfortable thinking that he has the power to do whatever he pleases if he wins the election to be Prime Minister Not only that, but he framed Ren under false charges of violence for defending a woman" A look of determination formed in his eyes. "If we want to honor Ren's memory, then I suggest that we reform Shido"

The three girls looked at him, until determination countenance formed and the three nodded in unison.

"We will make Shido for his atrocities he has committed. We will not let him be elected as Prime Minister" Makoto spoke loudly. "You have our support, Ryuji, count on us"

"Shido must pay for what he did to my father," Haru said decisively.

"This is for Ren. We will go after you, enough," Ryuji murmured, promising to make the person responsible for incriminating his friend be brought to the justice of the Phantom Thieves. _'Even though we will never see you again, this tribute will be to remind you that you will always be with us'_

* * *

The news of the capture of the human had crossed all the mouths between the daemons of the Warp, as well as the gods, as high-level daemons, especially Prince Daemon Be'lakor who had finished exterminating a full squad of Eldar in a lethal world.

The bodies of the Eldar warriors fallen in combat were scattered on the earthy surface in the middle of a moorland with jungles and wastelands, where in the distance mountains were seen and the spectacular view of an orange sky with two moons and a gas giant far. The blue blood covered the obsidian sword of Prince Daemon, while staring majestically at the mutilated and cut bodies of the warriors he had killed with all ease.

The Eldars was an ancient race that Be'lakor had faced when he and legions of Chaos daemons invaded the earthly plane during the creation of the Rift that brought down the Eldar Empire. They were strong and brave when they faced him; they possessed fierce and psychic abilities in the art of combat, which Be'lakor took with much fun in fighting them with psychotic madness and euphoria.

But now, after carrying out the massacre with the Eldar, Prince Daemon had learned from a blue Horror about the capture of a human with an ability to invoke spiritual guardians taken from his psyche, in addition to being sent to a pocket plane called Metaverse where he would have to test the resistance and strength of the group of humans known as the Phantom Thieves.

Be'lakor was confused about the message written by one of the servants of the Architect of Destiny; he asked for all the information from the Phantom Thieves and the Metaverse to Horror, and the result made him excited with anxiety to fight against those humans. I wouldn't question Tzeentch at all; he had faced the most powerful enemies, but this was a challenge that the Dark Master was eager to fulfill. Humans were a minor race among many who inhabited the galaxy, and one where the flow of negative emotions gave food to the Warp, like all worlds with ambitions among its inhabitants. There were users of magic in the world of humans, the Earth, where they wanted their services, but this one took care to manipulate and kill them when they were useless.

But this humanity had progressed with the passing of millennia, and with it, the maturation of minds. These humans, the Phatom Thieves, were able to reform the corruption of others by simply defeating their dark counterpart, with the same ability of the captured human, who was the leader of that group. Without their leader, the group was determined to honor their memory in making a reform against a corrupt politician, and that robbery would be where he would be sent if the Phantom Thieves are able to face a Daemon Prince.

Being very anxious for Tzeentch's mission, Be'lakor gladly agreed to confront those humans.

For him, participating in bloody battles was an emotion that every daemon was born with the anxiety of filling that emotion that overwhelmed them as something exquisite and tasty. It was old, older when all civilizations were born and matured in the universe. His power was granted by the four deities due to his great actions in wreaking havoc and decay in each world of the earthly plane. Cities and empires fell to the misfortune of their presence and to bring to madness what they managed to see alive and live to tell.

Prince Daemon was eager to test those humans; His sword needed more victims to tear and pierce their souls.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves began to implement their plan to honor the memory of their leader.

Preparations for the robbery of Masoyoshi Shido was organized in an afternoon at Yoyogen Park where the six had gathered in an area not traveled by pedestrians. At first, no one objected or doubts were made about it, only the accepted decision to bring the deceased to justice. Everyone was determined to carry out the reform.

"They are all ready?" Morgana spoke in her domestic cat form, watching as the five teenagers nodded with affirmation and seriousness in their countenance. "Well, we have to be prepared and attentive when we enter the Palace. This will be to honor Ren's memory and make Shido pay what he has done. Futaba, do you have the coordinates?"

The long orange-haired girl smiled confidently.

"Ready and ready when you say"

The cat nodded.

"Good," he said. "Let's start"

Futaba nodded; she pressed the logo with his thumb, and all the reality around him began to distort with red spirals that engulfed them completely. A few minutes later, the group had appeared on the wooden surface in a huge elegant cruiser of enormous length that furrowed a sea inhabited by sunken buildings and the resplendence of the sea by the cognitive sunlight.

The group was amazed by what they saw.

"So this is what Shido sees in his mind," Makoto commented with a frown.

"The sunken buildings in the middle of a flood reflect his candidacy to float as Prime Minister, not caring about the rest of his voters" Yusuke looked around, and his gaze focused on the huge cathedral that served as the deck of the ship. "The copy of the National Diet Building is his castle as ruler in the midst of destruction"

"Despicable bastard," Ryuji said. "We will not let him fulfill his mission in coming to power and leave everything in this Palace"

"Sane with you, Ryuji," Morgana nodded in her small anthropomorphic form. "If we are going to enter inside, we must be careful, this could be dangerous just like the other Palaces that we have been"

The teenagers nodded; They walked towards the huge brass doors that formed the entrance into the building. They entered, and found a huge room with guests in galas suits, confetti raining from the ceiling, and a staircase upholstered with a huge crimson carpet that led to the next floor above, flanked by two Shido bronze statues with canes.

The polished walls were gray hail with pots of exotic plants on its walls. Ceilings with chandeliers hanging by their skylights, ivory pillars in each area and other elegant decorations.

When they had entered, the group had changed their civil garments for their robber uniforms.

"Ehh? Guys, why do we suddenly change?" Ryuji said, confused.

"It must be that the Palace recognized us as a threat at the moment we entered," Morgana confirmed when looking at her companions. "Let us be attentive; as we go up the stairs we will face every Shadow that will get in our way when we arrive before Shido. Let's go!"

They nodded and ascended the stairs. As they climbed the stairs, the Phantom Thieves roamed the different areas of the ship where they ran into Shadows that tried to stop them on their way. They crossed the restaurant where they faced a cognitive Ooe that took the form of Yamata no Orochi; they beat him together and climbed an elevator. The elevator left them in the Middle Starboard Hall, where the first door to the south was closed. A golden statue of Shido next door turned them into mice in a comical way, except for some complaints.

The group, turned into a mouse, went to a ventilation duct as they passed through the gate. They ran through the ducts in a right pattern, then redoubled to the next corner to the right, then to the left, until they left through a slit that made them transform into their true normal forms. The Shadows noticed the intruders, and threw themselves at them. Ryuji and Yusuke beat three, while Morgana cleared the hall by invoking her Persona. With defeated enemies, the group advanced towards a door on the west side, where they entered the area of a wide rectangular pool where they observed cognitive guests swimming in them. They passed them, and entered a security camera where they faced a cognitive Yakuza who transformed into a Forneus. After their defeat, the group entered through a door in the northwest area.

They continued down the hall as they faced many shadows that roamed the halls. They climbed a clear staircase until they reached a door on the north side, where they were led to a performance hall and where they had to fight with two Shadows in the form of Baphomet. They defeated them and continued without delay.

In each area unlocked by the following doors that crossed, and when facing each cognitive individual, such as the president of TV and the president of IT Company, more information extracted the Phantom Thieves about the illicit activities of Shido already told by the bird of two heads Shido wanted power for himself by making dirty deals to carry out his ambition, but the Phantom Thieves would not let him get away with it.

Upon arriving at the boiler room, the group braked dry, surprised by what they saw.

Goro Akechi with his pearl white uniform with Victorian commander style and with his long-nosed red mask obscured the path where he led to the Treasure room.

"Akechi? What the fuck are you doing here? Did you come to stop us, or what?" Ryuji replied with surprise and anger in his voice when he saw the traitor and murderer.

Akechi said nothing for a few seconds; He looked down at the metal floor, and murmured melancholy:

"Shido contacted me when he received one of his letters after finishing one of his speeches in the Yogen-Jaya district. I know you did it as a retribution for Ren's capture, and I understand. But ..." instant when he clenched his lips.

"But what exactly?" Ryuji exasperated with irritation. "Did you come to suddenly be absent from your actions, or to kill us according to your revenge plan against Shido? Answer a fucking time, man!"

Akechi remained silent and gloomy for more minutes. The atmosphere was tense and icy, as icy as the cold winds that made the skin bristle. The young detective looked at them with an air of disorientation and heaviness.

"I ... I don't know what to do. I don't even recognize what I'm doing. I still don't know what I am doing." He looked down at the ground again, and spoke in a regretful and penitent voice: "All My life, since I was little, had revolved around my resentment and revenge against Shido after my mother committed suicide by abandoning her, but now ... nothing is the same anymore. My plan to take revenge on Shido no longer interests me to nothing. The deaths that I have caused when using the Metaverse Navigator only make me fill with resentment and pulp for my indiscriminate actions. After that two-headed bird told the whole truth about my past and my power to invoke different Persona, I knew immediately that nothing makes sense anymore; I am a puppet without talent who has only been guided by his puppeteer in a planned setting, while he was reaped by my ambition to avenge myself. I have done bad things that I regret having done. to each obj I think that Shido asked me without any compassion to do my job. But this time, it is time for me to make my own decisions and take responsibility for my actions. I want to reform Shido with you"

That made them impact a lot.

"What?" Futaba said in disbelief. "Do you want to help us reform Shido? I clearly remember that you wanted to join us because you threatened to expose us for being the Phantom Thieves, and now you're telling me that you want retribution for betraying us." She crossed her arm. "How do we know if what happened in the Palace of Sae Niijima made you reconsider your actions?"

Akechi groaned.

"Hey, I know that none of you trust me for what I did, and it's true." He clenched his gloved hands into a fist. "But at least give me an opportunity to join with you, and in return, I will surrender"

"What did you say?!" Ryuji said with surprise.

"What you heard me: when we reform Shido, I will confess all my actions and be prosecuted as a criminal. That is my condition that you understand. So, what do you think? Can I join?"

The group looked at each other, unsure whether or not it was necessary for Akechi to return to the group after having known the whole truth behind his guarded appearance. He committed several unforgivable crimes, killed anyone who represented a threat, did not care at all when Kunikazu Okumura died in front of his daughter. But even so ... he sought redemption for his actions that he had perpetrated by being a double agent with a single ambition: to take revenge on the person who had wretched his life in his childhood.

They could quite understand it. He was a youth outcast who decided to do the dirty work to stay in his psychotic revenge plan. The Phantom Thieves was a group where the doors were open to those who want to change their lives as outcasts and outcasts. Although, he could doubt to incorporate it, but despite what had happened weeks after Ren's capture, everything had already completely changed.

"That's good ... you can join," Morgana said as she let out a moan of reluctance. "But as long as you keep your promise to surrender"

"I swear I will," Akechi spoke frankly.

"Good," the cat nodded complacently, and nodded for the group to follow, and they obeyed. Before they could ascend the stairs, there was a sharp shudder that made the ship shake, but with high volume that caused the group to fall against the ground and get hurt.

There was a moment of calm afterwards, and the cruise had not moved any second.

"Is everyone okay?" Morgana called up from the ground.

"Yes ..." Ryuji replied in a hurt voice, standing awkwardly while making a face of pain and massaging his back. "What the hell just happened? Did the ship collide with a building?"

"Maybe maybe" Yusuke said with a frown.

A feeling of chills made Morgana shiver.

"Morgana?" Ann said with concern. "Morgana, what's wrong with you? Do you feel good?"

"It's ..." the tone of the talking cat was between cut by fear and fear. "It's the same energy source that came from that two-headed bird ... but this time it's very heavy, I almost can't breathe. It's very powerful."

The teenagers present felt frightened of fright.

"It can't be possible," Haru said with horror.

"I'm afraid so," the cat said sincerely turned off. "It's another monster"

They began to hear loud and thunderous footsteps that were heard at the top of the top floor. They heard sounds of deep blows, followed by great jolts in the chamber and sharp shatters that were heard with great intensity.

The Phantom Thieves looked back, where the footsteps became closer and closer, alarming them as it was, approaching at a relaxed and patient pace.

Until they could see him in front of the author of the footsteps.

It was a monster. Or rather, a demon.

He was robust and muscular, with a thick skin like grayish coal and a height of two meters high. He had an elongated head with two curved black horns wearing encrusted gold tendrils and a scary cadaverous face that frightened his two glowing eyes of deep red and a wide, square jaw. In his toned chest an eight-pointed star and charred wings were pierced in his skin where skulls pierced by steel hooks on his wings. He had bipedal legs with a mesh skirt on icing skulls and a dragon tail that moved from side to side; his arms were thick, with gold bracelets. In the right hand, the demon carried an elongated gray blade with sharp edges and teeth at each end.

A smile formed in the demon's mouth, causing the Phantom Thieves to shudder in terror.

_"As I was waiting for this moment to face you, Phantom Thieves,"_ said the demon in a rough and deep voice that froze the blood.

The Phantom Thieves took defensive positions immediately in the presence of the demon. Everyone had the weapons at hand and the Persona ready to be summoned.

"You, who are you," Morgana replied with authority, trying to suppress the horror she had when she saw the evil aura surrounding the demon, and especially his sword.

The demon laughed loudly that echoed through the chamber like an echo in a cave.

_"I am the Prince Daemon Be'lakor. Tzeentch told me that his emissary had captured his leader who had an ability to invoke powerful spirits through his mind. Too bad he is in the experimental laboratories in the Impossible Fortress. One shame, I wanted to fight him if he was a worthy opponent. But ... "_His countenance became wide, sickly and psychotic_, "... you would fill your post. I heard that you, the Phantom Thieves, are strong and have the same ability as its leader"_ He pointed at them with the sharp point of his blade. _"Give me a great fight!"_

The demon charged towards them as he swung the edge of his sword, but they reacted in time and separated. The impact generated a deep perforation that completely ripped the metal floor. He let out a war cry when he failed, and prepared to charge again.

"Go, Zorro!" Morgana shouted when invoking his Persona, and he charged against the demon. When his rapier tried to dampen the impact of the blade, he pierced it completely, as well as how his entire body was shattered by being chopped by Be'lakor's sword that blew him into a mowing light.

Morgana watched in horror as Zorro was destroyed in front of his eyes, and a sense of emptiness and loss haunted him.

His Persona was gone. Zorro had just been killed completely. He would never return to his mind.

"What happened to Zorro?!" Ryuji exasperated.

"Zorro ... Zorro no longer exists" the cat's voice was lost and sad, tears began to flow through his eyes. "He's dead! Zorro is dead!"

The teenagers showed semblants of horror and impact. Be'lakor laughed evilly.

_"Of course your spirit is dead, insect,"_ the demon replied mockingly. _"The Blade of Shadows is a sword that allows you to cross the armor, the flesh, scales and bones without resistance. Your useless attempts to summon your cognitive spirits against me will only lead to your death. Give me all you have! Show me your potentials!"_

The Phantom Thieves had no choice but to fight the devil, even if they cost him his life, they had the mission of reforming Shido, but they would first have to survive.

Ryuji summoned Captain Kidd and fired a wave of fire projectiles, but they were blocked when Be'lakor launched a spell that destroyed the projectiles, and then threw a reddish sphere that hit the Persona, defeating him instantly.

"No!" Ryuji shouted, and cursed when a fist was coming towards him; he dodged it in time, and watched as a hole formed. The tail of the demon moved, rolled the blond boy's leg, and buzzed against the wall on the left side, hurting himself against the pipes.

"Ryuji!" Ann swung the whip through the air, and wrapped it around the hand where Prince Daemon carried his sword; until Be'lakor raised his funky hand and spun the girl through the air in a circle, and threw her back, rolling down the stairs while groaning in pain.

Be'lakor laughed darkly.

_"Two out, missing six"_

The remaining five were stiff when the demon began to approach them slowly.

"We must help them!" Futaba replied with concern.

"We won't risk you dying!" Yusuke scolded him firmly, and his face took a dismayed countenance under his fox mask in knowing what action he had to take: using Goemon would be suicide that would receive the same fate as Zorro, and attacking him would be the worst. There must be an option.

"I'll take care of him," said Akechi, standing next to Yusuke. His red mask shone in blue flames and he threw it, until they separated into two halves and formed into Cu Chulainn and Cerberus.

"Then that is the power in which that two-headed bird had spoken," the painting student muttered under his breath as he watched as the two Persona ran to the demon. Cerberus attacked when throwing fireballs, and Cu Chulainn turned his spear, summoning a blizzard that enveloped him along with the fireballs. The result was a huge boom that shook the camera. There was a slight movement in the smoke, and the figure of Prince Daemon emerged as if nothing had happened to him, except for some bruises on his toned body that hardly hurt him.

Be'lakor roared; He moved the sword at a parallel angle, and Cerberus had exploded upon contact with the blade. Cu Chulainn was grabbed by the head, and then be completely burned to be engulfed in flames that eaten him.

Akechi invoked Robin Hood, and he shot arrows that were blocked by the demon's sword. Be'lakor threw himself at his prey as he lowered his sword, but only hit the ground. Robin Hood dodged the right hook that was shot at him, then a straight cut that he had to duck to avoid being beheaded. Akechi took advantage of the fact that his enemy was backless and nodded for the remaining Phantom Thieves to leave. They nodded, and went to meet their two wounded companions. Akechi fired laser beams from his gun on the demon's back, but that only made him angry and took him by the neck, axfiscating him hard.

Robin Hood struck with his bow the face of Prince Daemon, and he released his master. Furious, Be'lakor gave him a low blow to his stomach and dealt a deep cut with his blade that sliced half of him and put an end to his existence.

Akechi stifled a sigh as he tried to exhale a breath of air from his strangled neck; their three Persona had been killed from the face of existence, feeling like they had disappeared from their mental bond._ 'There is no way we can beat him; he killed my Persona and the Persona of Morgana with the use of his sword. This is the same when we face that two-headed bird when he kidnapped Ren at Sae's Palace. Our effort is useless against this demon ... There is no choice, I will have to use what is left of my reserve. But if I die, at least I did something to erase my sins'_

With everything at stake he decided to use his beam under his sleeve; a red aura formed on his body, and with it, his entire white Victorian uniform had completely changed, replacing him with a dark blue suit with black stripes and black belts tied around his legs and arms. His red mask was replaced by a closed dark knight's helmet and a deep crimson mask that resembles a sharp beak.

"Get out, Loki!" a circle formed above him, and from it emerged a white humanoid with parallel black stripes and an oval head with yellow jaws and horns.

That revelation made the Phantom Thieves surprise.

"Incredible," said Futaba with his jaw loose and stunned. "That outfit he wears and that mask with rope perfectly with the details gathered from the Shadows"

"The hidden personality of Akechi, Black Mask" Yusuke added with fascination and curiosity.

"Run!" Akechi bellowed without turning his face back; having him you saw in front of Prince Daemon who prepared to fight back. "I will take care of him! You must fulfill your mission of reforming Shido! Only with that will this Palace be destroyed!" He fired his weapon at a red button; an alarm rang out, and the door slammed down, blocking the road.

"What fuck?! Akechi, what did you just do?!" Ryuji shouted in dismay that he could barely stop as he felt his entire spine hurt.

"Don't waste your time with me!" he shouted from the other end of the closed passage. "Consider it as a payment for my sins! Now do your foolish work!"

Yusuke put his hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Come on," he spoke melancholy. "There is nothing we can do. It is giving us time to end this lesser evil."

Ryuji was about to object boldly, but he fell and nodded without saying anything.

The Phantom Thieves left the chamber and climbed the stairs, letting the penitent young detective expire his sins when facing the greater evil.

* * *

The area where the Phantom Thieves were was a wide-sized circular amphitheater. The walls were built of wood where the stadiums were built with green-upholstered bleachers and a dome-shaped ceiling, illuminated by windows of different colors. There were red lined bleachers that were aligned in an arc pattern on a huge crimson upholstered floor.

The group had stopped in the center, where they observed a wide platform with wooden posts one on top of the other, glued to a huge wall covered by a large veil shaped like an old man.

"This is where senior officials of the government of Japan sit down to discuss their speeches," Morgana said analytically.

"Shido as his personal throne when he wins the elections," Makoto said with a frown. "But we won't let Akechi's sacrifice go in vain. Futaba, did you start the transmission by hacking the terminals?"

The hacker girl smiled at him charisma and raised her thumb.

"It's done," she said confidently. "Now, we just have to wait for Shido to manifest his Shadow. Which will be in half an hour."

There was a demonstration in the first place, and in it appeared the figure of a bald man with black business suit and short beard. He had a look of pure hatred on his glasses when he glared at the group.

_"You, filth"_ said the Shadowed Being with disgust. _"They don't know what the cost I have done to deserve my job"_

Ryuji gave the Shadow a sharp look and spoke angrily:

"Deserve your job?! What you've done in your fraudulent campaign of yours is a fiasc!"

"You use others as toys for your own selfish purposes," Yusuke replied.

"You just want to get the power to plant a corrupt regime in your candidacy," Makoto said angrily.

Shadow Shido made fun of them.

_"Incompetent! You are an anarchist gang that alters the order in reforming others against their will! All the sacrifices I have made were for a greater good. Japan deserves to have a leader where it would lead to prosperity, and I am that person who needs the people."_ He looked at them carefully._ "I can assume that a member of your team is missing in this confrontation. Your leader, am I wrong?"_

The Phantom Thieves made semblants of uncertainty knowing that they were incomplete by the missing piece that was the pillar of strength that held them together.

"He may not be with us, but that does not mean that we can reform you," Haru replied, going straight to the point and with determination. "You will pay for killing my father and for incriminating our leader"

_"Your father? Are you Haru, aren't you? I see you try to seek revenge by giving Akechi's order to kill him. I can understand your frustration, girl. But incrimination of his leader? One moment, hmm ..."_ Shadow Shido He became thoughtful, and his eyes flashed a glow of having remembered what Kunikazu Okumura's daughter was trying to say. _"Ah! So it's that brat who hit me that night was its leader. I remember it clearly."_

"Of course it is!" Ryuji pointed out furiously. "You put him under criminal charges for having saved that woman from you! You are a human-shaped monster!"

The Shadow looked at him with an air of defiance. He thundered his fists sharply, and the Phantom Thieves were attentive.

_"If you want war, then you will have war."_ Shadow Shido's body changed completely when a red aura swallowed him up, and then his business suit became a military black uniform with decorations and awards; his red cape was honing from behind and he had a white helmet with tips. He crossed his arms and looked insignificantly at his air of superiority._ "Show me without you are able to stop me"_

A winged bronze lion had emerged from the open hole automatically, engulfing the desks of consuls. Shido mounted the mount, and the bronze beast rose through the air as he moved his wings.

_Crash!_

The closed doors that served as an entrance exploded with a loud crash that caused them to be torn apart by a thick fist. The Phantom Thieves were horrified as Prince Daemon Be'lakor entered the scene, carrying his broad blade covered in red liquid and an intimidating aura of death that made the chamber's atmosphere tense and icy. Shadow Shido was baffled and shocked by the entrance of the demon, and at the same time, intimidated by his presence.

_"You think you can escape me! No one escapes of the Dark Master!"_ Be'lakor showed in his left hand the black helmet where Goro Akechi's lifeless face appeared. _"This human proved to be a worthy opponent of great spirit when he faced me alone. He gave his life to escape"_ He squeezed so hard that the helmet with the decapitated head was shattered, and the blood flowed in his tight hand. _"But I won't let you escape again!"_

The draconic wings of the demon moved, and flew towards them.

"It seems we have no choice but to fight" Yusuke took his fox mask and threw it in the air. "Goemon!"

The mask was wrapped in blue fire, and from her he became his Persona. Goemon threw several projectiles from his pipe, but these were cut by the blade of the demon. Futaba mounted in Necronomicon fired rounds of energy spheres, and these were professionally dodged by Be'lakor when flying through the air. The demon took the side of the flying saucer, and threw it against Shadow Shido mounted on the winged lion; He dodged it by bending the beast to the right side and a large hole had formed in the ceiling, where he launched the flying saucer.

"Futaba!" Ryuji shouted when he saw how Necronomicon, piloted by her friend, was fired to a great height. He grabbed his skull mask and summoned Captain Kidd. He shot rays of Ziodyne at Be'lakor, but was blocked by using the sword as a shield. He moved the blade, and the lightning bolt destroyed the Persona. "Captain Kidd!" he shouted for the loss of his Persona, covering his eyes with the mower.

Seeing how the Phantom Thieves fought the demon, Shadow Shido pulled the reins of the bronze lion, and plummeted toward the enemy. Be'lakor turned his face, and saw only a wall of fire that completely enveloped him, until the flames were reduced and his body was intact. He threw a deep pit with the Blade of Shadows at the bronze lion; causing the flying animal along with its rider to crash against the veiled wall.

"Attack, Milady!" Haru ordered, and the missiles and bullets fired from the weaponry of his Persona. Be'lakor, who had descended between the seats, watched without any perplexity as the attack was on him; he raised his hand calmly, and one of red energy broke him down and turned him into ashes.

"Goemon, use Mugoon!" His Persona nodded, and a circle with violet paths formed under Prince Daemon, and a violet explosion engulfed him. The smoke dispersed from the summoned attack, and Yusuke saw with exasperation that it didn't work: Be'lakor was still standing, with a bloodthirsty smile formed on his countenance.

"His pathetic attempts did not work against me," Prince Daemon announced superiorly. "I have fought in countless wars over the long millennia against different races in the galaxy. You have a great warrior spirit, but it will not help you. I will save your lives by killing you."

The team joined, except Futaba who was upstairs, watching from the top of the hole as his friends tried to defeat the demon.

"It's unstoppable," Ann said anxiously and dismayed. "We use all our attacks, but it's useless"

"That monster killed Akechi, and the same thing will happen to us if we think of a plan," Makoto said swallowing hard.

Morgan gritted her teeth._ 'There must be a way we can beat him. If we fight back, we will lose anyway. This is different; It is life or death. The loss of Zorro means that we face a real threat that must be taken seriously'_

The distressing thoughts of the Phantom Thieves were cast when an explosion resounded from behind; they observed the new form of Shadow Shido that stood before the Daemon Prince. He was muscular, very muscular, with the skin of a dark pink and a hardened expression.

"What?" Yusuke said incredulously to what he saw. "Shido, you can't beat him, he will kill you anyway even having your second transformation!"

_"I do not care about that!"_ said Shadow Shido stubbornly. _"I won't let this vermin blow me without fighting!"_

Be'lakor smiled.

_"Then give me what you have"_

No one objected against him, the Phantom Thieves were watched in silence as the Shadow Shido rushed with great speed towards his enemy in throwing a right hook. Be'lakor saw him coming, and caught his fist with his bare hand with all ease, and pushed his left against the dark pink face of Shadow Shido, causing him to fall back against the seats and raising the wood about three meters away , driven by the force of Prince Daemon Be'lakor.

His sword had disappeared in a thick black smoke when he decided not to use it at this precise moment, since he wanted to fight against his opponent in a melee fight that he enjoyed so much against strong enemies that were at his level, and this human (the copy of the original) it was.

Shadow Shido groaned in pain; He got up awkwardly, and charged again against the ancient daemon of Chaos. Be'lakor turned aside, and slapped him so hard in the back that he buzzed straight against the wall of the chamber.

In the newly made hole, the Shadowed Being rose again, his teeth grinding with rage.

_"Is that all you have, human?_" Be'lakor scoffed.

_"You'll pay for this, damn it!"_ Shadow Shido roared as he raised his muscular arms, forming an omnipotent aura in them.

_BAM!_

The powerful surge of energy was lowered before the ancient daemon of Chaos, causing a great boom followed by a sharp rise of chairs and other wood materials. The Phantom Thieves grabbed the edge of the platform, avoiding getting fired, while Futaba resisted not flying off the roof.

The smoke began to thicken, revealing the silhouette of Be'lakor in the middle of the crater, with a semblance of excitement.

_"Nothing bad, human, nothing bad"_ thundered his fists._ "Now is my turn"_

With a slight step, Be'lakor appeared in front of Shadow Shido just by using his accelerated speed. He stamped a fist in his stomach, leaving him stunned, and then sent another one that hit his cheek and drove him away two meters away, almost falling off, but his rival held firm.

Shadow Shido continued to launch projectile fists of sinister and sinister as bullets fired at close range, trying to hit his enemy, but he could not get it; the demon evaded all the blows when moving from one side to the other with a mocking smile in not being able to hit him. Boiling with rage, the Shadow Man changed his strategy: he stopped throwing punches with his fists, and turned his arc-shaped body, connecting a kick to his hip that stunned him.

"He did it," Ryuji said with emotion and stunned from afar. "Shido did it"

Seeing that the demon was moaning at the kick, Shadow Shido took advantage of it in counterattacking; he threw a right hook, then a left hook, and finally, a kick in the center on the eight-pointed star tattooed on his chest.

That mortal blow managed to leave him injured, causing him to spit black ichor.

_"I see I made you swallow your pride. It's time for you to die, filth!"_ Shadow Shido raised his arm wrapped in an immense aura. He was ready to attack, he was ready to eradicate this demon once and for all. With his arm loaded with aura, he came down with a crash, and to his surprise, he was arrested.

He was about to object, but his word was swallowed when Be'lakor's fist exploded in his jaw, causing him to step back and scream in pain, giving for the ancient Chaos daemon to perform his movement: He gave him a tack in the leg, then a whip on the jaw once more. His opponent screamed, which he liked. He continued beating him in a trained and sinister manner, until he grabbed him by the leg and stamped him against the wooden floor from side to side, as if he were trying to crush the insect.

_Pum!_

_Pum!_

_Pum!_

With his opponent covered in deadly scratches where his blood was draining, Be'lakor turned him in circles, and threw him toward the platform, where the Phantom Thieves had to leave the place. The impact generated a large wooden uprising, followed by the sharpness of the sound that was strident. In the hole formed, Shadow Shido did not move for a second; his chest rose and fell weakly, while his eyes were narrowed, unable to make a scream after receiving fatal blows to his jaw.

"He ... beat him" he said in terror and shocked Ryuji.

"Approaches!" Morgana shouted to the group, taking a defensive position with his saber.

The former Prince Daemon of Chaos stood before them with a murderous and lustful intensity in his eyes.

_"That human proved to be a worthy opponent in facing me. He represented you instead in this fight, but it all ends here."_ He extended his right arm, and in the palm of his open hand appeared a thick black smoke, which then transformed into his fearsome newly formed sword.

Having no other choice, the Phantom Thieves decided to fight by invoking their Persona, except Morgana, who had lost Zorrou forever, while Futaba watched the fight from afar in the open fissure.

Ann had Carmen throw Maragi through the two heart-shaped heads, while Makoto fired Johanna's atomic spheres. The result was an explosive boom, but Be'lakor had moved with the beat of his draconic wings. She shattered Carmen by using his claws instead of using the Blade of Shadows and invoked a red energy projectile that hit Makoto mounted on his Persona, causing it to roll over the potholes and destroyed wood.

Yusuke went to his aid in making Goemon summon a hurricane of his pipe. Be'lakor slashed diagonally, and the hurricane dissipated in thick smoke. Captain Kidd fired a round of explosive balls at the ancient daemon, and he cut them into perfect strokes and hit a deep hook that made the Persona shoot, followed by a scourge that made Ryuji fire the wall.

With three friends out of the game, it was their turn to face the challenge themselves.

Be'lakor's sword fell silent, and the four were divided. Haru swung the Gilgamesh Ax at a right angle, causing it to come in contact with Be'lakor's blade, causing a loud thunderous metallic screech. Be'lakor pushed his blade against the ax with such force that it caused thousands of pieces of steel to be scattered through the air, while sending Haru with his tail.

"Haru!" Ryuji shouted, and charged toward the daemon, which was a mistake on his part: Be'lakor had penetrated Captain Kidd's chest with his bare hand, causing the Persona to let out a cry of pain that was muffled by being faded into smoke. Ryuji tried to hit him with his spiked bat, but was sent with a swipe that left him in pain.

The only thing left was Yusuke and Morgana.

"It seems that we are both" said the talking cat with melancholy and harshness.

"It's like the above against Kairos in the Palace of Makoto's sister, but this demon overcomes him. Even invoking Goemon, he would have the same fate as Zorro"

"In that you are right," Morgana admitted sadly and regretfully remembering the death of his Persona that was engraved in his mind.

Prince Daemon walked towards them and raised his sword, ready to unleash his attack, but a thick figure pounced on him. The two were surprised to see how the shadowy muscular figure of Shadow Shido enveloped with his two thick arms where blood drained from him under pressure.

_"You have to run away! ... I won't take much ...!"_

"What ?! You can't, your wounds and your state ...!" Morgana worriedly stopped him by putting his white gloved hand on his shoulder.

"Morgana, we can't do anything anymore!" he said with exasperation. "We have to run away, now!"

The cat hesitated, and nodded reluctantly. They looked for their companions who were able to get up in pain, while Yusuke cushioned the fall of Furtaba in her arms when she descended from the fissure in the ceiling. With all of them complete, the Phantom Thieves fled through the entrance door, leaving the chamber.

Be'lakor roared with fury when he saw that his prey was fleeing. He stomped his leg against his oppressor's leg. Shadow Shido shouted and his scream was silenced by a diagonal cut that silenced him and fell backless.

With fury in his eyes, Prince Daemon Be'lakor went in search of his preys.

* * *

In his room with all the doctors and businessmen, the real Masayoshi Shido shouted in agony to feel his whole body experience the pain of his other self. He sat on his sofa, and asked for the pills to be delivered that would end his inner Palace.

The doctor hesitated, but decided to do so hesitantly; he handed her the pills, and Shido took them. _'I hope it works; that demon has to die, even if it means that the Phantom Thieves die ... if they manage to escape first'_

Moaning in pain, Shido took off his business suit, and his face turned in horror at the sight of a deep diagonal wound that pierced his torso.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves ran through the destroyed and cracked corridors they had found and served as shortcuts while the ship began to self-destruct. They had run into Goro Akechi's headless body, but there was no time to mourn his death; They had to escape.

They crossed all the halls and rooms; they passed through the pool area until they reached a door that led them to a corridor, and from that corridor they took them to the various areas that had passed when facing the Shadows. After an hour, the team found a door that led them outdoors, where the part of the bow had been separated from its half, until it began to sink.

The explosions rang out loud. The hearts and other buildings flew through the air in the middle of the night. The smoke emanated and the explosions became stronger and stronger, until the entire Palace began to descend. The rage roar of Prince Daemon echoed through the destruction of the ship, shouting for his name.

The group, having no other choice, decided to launch on the side of the ship until they were cushioned by the soft sea of the night.

They swam, swam like fish fleeing from their pursuers, until they managed to disappear by the undulation in reality.

* * *

Miraculously, the Phantom Thieves managed to escape through the hairs of the destruction of the Palace and appear at night in the Yoyogen Park of their reality.

Ryuji let out a heavy breath as he rose.

"Man! Good thing we managed to get out before that demon killed us!"

The others did not answer his question; They decided to sit down and exhale the night air the night gave. It was cold and warm, like every night when the sun set in the afternoon.

"Thank you for catching me, Yusuke," Futaba thanked thoroughly.

"No problem" he said kindly.

Haru noted that the cat was depressing.

"Morgana" she said softly. "Are you okay?"

"My Persona ... Zorro... has just been killed in front of my eyes," said the cat sadly.

That caused the group to panic.

"It's true," Yusuke admitted melancholy. "I saw how Fox was pierced by that blade when he came into contact. The sword that demon carried could tear anything" his indigo eyes opened like blinds. "My God...!"

"What's going on?" Ann said fearfully.

"Besides tearing anything" he swallowed the last sentence he was going to say: "... it can also kill the soul"

That comment made his friends horrified.

"No way!" Ryuji exasperated.

"The Persona are manifestations of our rebel spirits when they are released," Morgana said uncertainly. "Losing a Persona is like losing part of your soul. It's like feeling a great emptiness that overwhelms you. That's how I feel now"

Everyone was silent.

"One moment," Makoto replied with fear in her voice. "If that leaf is capable of destroying the soul ... it means that ..." She covered her mouth with both hands, unable to finish her word, but Yusuke understood it grimly, and explained it to the group:

"It means ... what happened to Haru's father, the same thing will happen to Shido."

* * *

The next night, all the citizens had gathered at the Shibuya Center where everyone had their sights set on the huge TV where Shido's reform was being broadcast, but what struck the audience was that they met with a dying Shido who could barely speak and breathe. All citizens were shocked and worried, especially the Phantom Thieves with their civilian attire.

_"I ... I want to say something to all citizens of all of Japan"_ Shido's tone was between cut but audible. He was in an area with his banners behind and the technical team at his side. "I don't have much time to live ..." He coughed in front of the camera, and his blood could be seen in his hand as he covered his mouth. _"This ... accident, is a punishment for all the sins that I have done. So I decided to take my last breath in confessing everything I did. I want to confess everything in front of you, and so that you know what is to come"_

There was great uncertainty among the citizens, but they were silent when Shido related his guilt speech:

_"My campaign has been a fraud. I needed money to promote my propaganda, so I applied for financial help through Junya Kaneshiro and Ichiryusai Madarame, with the option of them quietly doing their job if I didn't bother them. I used the IT president. Company to impersonate the Medjed hacker group knowing that the Phantom Thieves could not attack anonymous organizations and their plan was to admit defeat to increase the popularity of thieves to a new height. I used Goro Akechi as my executor to to eradicate the director of the Shujin Academy, and Kunikazu Okumura in his press conference, who helps him eliminate his competition, both of them had sworn allegiance and loans in my candidacy for Prime Minister, I also have the SIU as a personal army, since I have threatened its director to expose his traps. The use of mentally close deaths is due to the use of the existence of a world created by the hearts dist orsionados of this society known as the Metaverse. At this precise moment, there is a copy of the Metaverse in Shibuya, where Akechi made his mental closures through the cognitive double of the citizens, something that the Phantom Thieves use in reforming corrupt individuals like me. All this thanks to the investigations of Wakaba Isshiki, who then had to kill her to take over the Metaverse "_

The entire city remained silent; No one spoke during the long seconds of conversation. The uncertainty and fear of citizens began to hover in them, but Shido continued speaking:

_"Everything is true ... every word I have said has been true ... Everything is true. I sent all the information of my wrongdoing to the office of the Department of Security of Japan, as well as the Metaverse investigations and the deaths that I did. I am guilty ... I am guilty of everything, and this is my punishment"_ He took off his shirt, revealing to the public the deep diagonal scar. _"This is a payment for my sins. A demon from another dimensional plane managed to enter my Palace and almost killed the Phantom Thieves when they tried to reform me. That thing killed Akechi, and as for me, I will run the same fate as him. That is why I decided to make this statement to the whole country of Japan, I knew this truth that I deserved to come to light ... I could not sleep or rest ... The nightmares do not leave me alone. I hear the whispers, the whispers of that everything will end. "That demon was not the first; there was one, a two-headed blue bird that completely liquidated an entire SIU unit and captured the leader of the Phantom Thieves, taking it to its dimension, something that Akechi had informed me "The tone of his voice turned with exasperation. "The real hell exists, and the nightmares showed me that everything is yet to come. I saw how those demons and their gods were walking on Earth! EVERYTHING IS TO BE FINISHED! THE CHAOS PLAN TO TAKE...!"_

It was at that moment that Masayoshi Shido, a corrupt candidate for Prime Minister, died when his speech broke in the middle of the live broadcast that he transmitted to all channels in Japan, and the world. His face went blank, and then he fell against the floor, ending his program.

In just an instant, the entire Shibuya Center began to get out of control. Panic and consternation among citizens filled on a large scale that he had to call the police to bring order.

Seeing that they could do nothing, the Phantom Thieves had to leave the center, with anguish looming over them.

* * *

In a food stall in Rome, the people who ate their nightly dinner, all were shocked and surprised by the great revelation that Shido had explained after dying live in front of all viewers from all continents.

Amid the commotion of discussions, a man with tanned skin and long black hair had taken the transmission sent from Japan quite seriously and urgently.

_'It is begun, the Gods of Chaos sowed discord in the city of Shibuya to start the invasion. Presumably, Tzeencth is responsible for this plot'_ his face became iron. _'The Phantom Thieves cannot fight alone against the threat of Chaos that is to come'_

* * *

**It was very long to write this chapter, since I didn't get the ideas to write it, but we saw how the Phantom Thieves fought against Prince Daemon Be'lakor and the sacrifice of Akechi, as well as the death of Zorro.**

**Adding the Emperor of Humanity seeing what was happening in Shibuya is something he was planning, especially that he lives in the capital of Italy, Rome, the ancient capital of the Roman Empire; since the Empire of Humanity has Latin speech and some elements of Imperial Rome.**

**All critics are welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here I bring you the continuation of this chapter.**

**All reviews and comments are welcome.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

_'Amamiya-kun... why are you missing so much? Did something happen to you?' _Sadayo Kawakami thought lying in his bed with anguish and concern rolling around his mind for three weeks had passed since Ren Amamiya, the exchange student with criminal problems, had stopped going to class.

She knew that there was more than just a fault, and he had asked Makoto about his condition, to which she replied that it was because of the pressure of the exams and the rumors of being an outcast with parole. Kawakami understood it perfectly by knowing how she felt when she learned the true story of her criminal records when she went to the Leblanc dressed as a maid in her previous part-time job.

Ren Amamiya was not a criminal, but a victim who was unjustly imprisoned by a corrupt politician in saving a woman, and she understood him, as was his sense of justice for opposing Kamoshida and freeing her from her bonds against family hedonists of his former deceased student, Taiki Takase, who had died of overwork to sustain himself financially, and she always compared him to young Amamiya; since both shared a prejudice in being juvenile delinquents, although that was not true from their own point of view.

Kawakami was indebted to Ren for helping her get rid of those two jobs and focusing on her job as a teacher. She appreciated Ren's generosity, to the point that she did all her work to clean his room and humiliate him in using his sensual voice to blush, although he was relaxed when he did.

But now, having spent three weeks without attending, fear and anxiety for her well-being made her worried. The faces of Ryuji Sakamoto, Haru Okumura and Makoto Niijima were of uncertainty and regret when she mentioned her name; as if he had died, and that disturbed her.

She was very concerned about his well-being, and he couldn't stop thinking that something bad weighed him. That feeling of worry overwhelmed her, more to make her very nervous.

She wanted to know how he was.

She wanted what his status was.

She didn't know how he was, but one thing was certain: something bad had happened to his student.

_'Amamiya-kun ... I hope you're well,'_ Kawakami thought uncertainly as she closed her eyes, and restlessness didn't let her sleep.

* * *

_'__Why didn't you come? ' _Tae Takemi said uncertainly, sitting with his eyes lost on his desk and with both hands closed on top of his job. The office was as before, but with a tense atmosphere, as if something had completely changed. He consulted few clients who came for consultations or exams. Although, if there was someone who was missing, and that someone was the curly-haired boy who always came to his office, Ren Amamiya.

Considered by herself for being a quiet and reserved boy, Takemi saw Ren as someone very affectionate and kind. He always listened to his indications that he sent him in his physical treatments, and besides that he served as his sweet guinea pig in his experiments with his pills, and he had to say that the boy took it very seriously when he was administered and returned with a good physical condition, something that surprised him.

For Takemi, the curly-haired young was a pleasant person in whom he spent all his weekends with him to forget about his bad reputation in the past when he had previously worked at a university, but was fired after being a victim of a scapegoat for a medical trial that was actually an attempt to improve the medication and restore its credibility. Later she had learned that her "dead" patient was really alive, knowing that he was transferred to another hospital to avoid bad public relations. She also learned that director Shoichi Oyamada covered up the survival of his patient due to jealousy towards her; all thanks to the Phantom Thieves in reforming it, and with that, their reputation was clean.

The days she had spent with the boy were pleasant, she felt relaxed from her work and her neat reputation; It was her travel companion when she had nothing to do in the office. She remembered the walks she had done with him in the city and in the commercial districts where they traveled and saw what it was that caught their attention. That if they were pleasant moments where she had a very relaxing time with him. But everything had changed completely when he had stopped coming to visit her.

At first, she could possibly be occupied by the papers and exams that were sent to her when she finished her classes at Shujin Academy and had needed a lot of concentration to focus on her own future, which she would understand; knowing that he was a transfer student and lived under the care of Sojiro Sakura, the owner of Leblanc in Yogen-Jaya and where he helped him with the work. She understood, and left he was busy in his studies. Then the days passed, and he didn't visit her.

She thought that he forgot to visit her in the office due to the stress of homework, but having spent three weeks without a single visit from him, Takemi became worried about her absence.

Did something bad happen to you? Did he fall ill because of the tasks he was sent? Was he called home by his parents? Those were the questions she asked about her unknown whereabouts. I had not seen him on the street or at the Shujin Academy when leaving class students. It is as if he had disappeared in just an instant, and his anguish deepened further, feeling that something was not right.

When Shido had died in front of all the cameras, Takemi had thought that the situation could get worse when he sent police help at the Shibuya Center, but the only thing that worried him most was the well-being of his patient.

_'My dear guinea pig ... what happened to you?'_

* * *

Something bad was about to happen, in that Chihaya Mifune could sense it with chills when contemplating the Tarot cards on the mantle of his circular table. The night had fallen in the city of Shibuya, and the night activity in the Shinjuku district was waning due to the little pedestrian traffic that had arisen after having passed a day after the death of the Prime Minister candidate in front of all the spectators in Japan and his subsequent disclosure about his conspiracy activities he had done.

She knew that this was only the beginning of a great calamity that was about to approach, and that feeling made her alert to the point that she thought it was because of the fatigue of her work as a seer, but when she had consulted the letters to find answers to his anguish that invaded inside. She needed fate to tell her what was going to happen, and to her surprise, the result was horrible.

The Tower struck by lightning; an omen that an imminent disaster is about to happen, associating with the corruption of political society uncovered after the death of Masayoshi Shido in full television. Then there was the Death card, one of the most contradictory cards that completely changes the scenario of Tarot and destiny; she saw how the impending doom was about to come, whipping in its path a great number of victims where they would lose their lives in a confrontation where the World card appears next to them, sighting an incoming battle where powerful dark forces fight against the warriors of good in preventing the entire earthly plane from falling.

Chihaya was bewildered. _'Is this what fate shows? This can not be possible! Is this really happening?!'_ She thought it was a mistake or a bad move she made with the cards, so she shuffled it again, and the result was the same: the fall of order in society followed by the rise of a new threat that looms about humanity

At first he did not believe it, but fate did not lie to him; she knew perfectly well that fate, or better known by healers and spiritual guides as the Great Will, showed him events that only manifested in his letters when he began the assignment, and what he was seeing was genuine proof that a great calamity was about to happen.

She panicked; his heart did not stop beating in his chest and he felt like an intense chills ran through his body. What he was witnessing was something that only made references in mythologies about a final battle between good and evil, and he saw it in the letters, there was no doubt.

His purple eyes were fixed on the three cards on the table, petrified and scared.

The letters of the Tower, Death and the World was a clear reference to the coming of a biblical apocalypse where everything would end, and the word "Chaos" was latent in them when I saw the letters on the mantle.

_'Chaos?'_ she told herself, confused. _'What chaos do you mean? Perhaps you can refer to the primordial force when the balance of order is broken ... Is that what the letters tell me? If that is so, then it means that we will all be caught in the crossfire. Although, where there is chaos, there is order. The Arcane of the World specifies that these warriors will fight against the forces of chaos in restoring order. Yes, I must not lose hope, I know they will win, I know, in that I can be sure'_

The appearance of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts was a great change that generated an impact in the middle of the millennium. Her reforms against the corrupt brought with her that the destiny of a society could be changed by making decisions made in knowing that it is the right thing, and she knew it deeply in her heart; The Phantom Thieves was the intermediate point and link of a balance established thousands of years ago. Some considered them heroes, while others considered them criminals who deserved to be trapped by indiscriminate changes and deaths caused.

Several weeks ago, she was used as a simple toy by a group of scammers called the Assembly of Divine Power who took advantage of her genuine ability to perceive where they forced her to sell "mystical stones" during her assignments, but that was no more That worthless trinkets made of rock. However, everything had changed when the Phantom Thieves changed the corruption of their president. After the change of heart, he resigned from continuing to work for them and decided to use his gift to help others.

She would not be overcome by fear; The Phantom Thieves are those warriors that refers to the Arcane of the World, and she knew it for sure. In addition, there was also someone else who accompanied them, and in it stood out a word that formed in his mind.

Emperor.

In the Arcanas, the Emperor's letter was represented as a ruler who exerts a great influence on controlling around him, while some of the elements of life are not controllable. Those who exercise this Arcane are people who are worried about something very personal and sometimes have roles of father figures.

Will the figure representing a ruler participate as the letter told him? If what he sees is true, then he could not turn the matter around; fate showed him that a battle against Chaos would unfold, and these people would be the key to the salvation of mankind.

The only thing Chihaya could do was pray in silence and hope good would triumph. I had faith that destiny would give strength to the victors.

_'May they win, please, may they save humanity'_

* * *

The afternoon was falling over the city of Shibuya, and the orange tones had the blue sky, making a great contrast in front of the window on the top floor of the Department of the SIU where the Director observed with a solemn glance the wonderful view behind the transparent glass, giving it the appearance of a realistic painting frame. He could see his reflection returning his solemn countenance of uncertainty that the window pane showed him; He was an older man of medium stature with baldness who had little gray hair and an elongated face, wearing a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a black tie. His solemn countenance contracted in a frown as he looked at his own reflection, observing himself with his brown eyes behind his lenses at his double in the glass.

_'All people who do bad things are punished by receiving their own acts, and I see that I am paying for those acts,'_ the Director thought bitterly, remembering the previous week as Shido had revealed information about his activities after having died in front of all the cameras; He knew that he had done it to free himself from all his sins, and with that, he led to the imprisonment of his entire circle of conspiracy, especially him. His incorporation was under threat by Goro Akechi to blackmail him by reforming his counterpart in his Palace but cooperated in Shido killing all his political rivals; knowing that he had committed fraud in obtaining the position of director.

Now, with Akechi and Shido dead, and with all the truth revealed, the SIU Director had nowhere to escape or seek an excuse to save his reputation; soon the authorities would arrive and put him in prison on charges of corruption and conspiracy, as well as all the members who will be prosecuted for being complicit. There was nothing to do. It was all over for him. The Department would be closed and the name SIU would be remembered as a corrupt organization that did dirty work in hiding the evidence under the spot of a lie that hid the truth.

He turned and looked at his office; all the efforts and sacrifices he had made to win the position were for nothing, he would never see his stay again. Only the worthy occupied this place, he did not deserve it. He stained the name of SIU for his greed, and now he had to pay the consequences of his actions.

What would I do then ... Nothing, I simply wouldn't do anything.

_'I guess there is nothing I can do right now'_

Letting out a groan, he went to his desk and sat down in his chair, watching with his gaze lost towards the closed door of his office, while a million things came to mind, and one of them was the loss of a complete unit of its best agents in the Palace of the prosecutor Sae Niijima for the appearance of a blue bird with two heads that had exterminated the unit sent to catch the Phantom Thieves.

At first he doubted he had heard it, but when Akechi told him the truth in an icy voice and without humor, he knew that he was not lying in his serious tone; Professionally trained officers in solving cases and risk situations that had not failed for fifty years were killed without any compassion for that two-headed avian monster, where he proceeded to kidnap the leader of the Phantom Thieves and take him to his dimension; Akechi and the others tried to defeat him, but were defeated in the act of saving their leader.

That was simply a crazy thing, but it was a crude truth that there was another world besides the cognitive world where Akechi made his mental disorders and the Phantom Thieves reformed the corrupt, and that world was spoken by Shido after he died.

Without a doubt, I knew deeply that bad things were about to happen, and Shibuya would be immersed in it.

* * *

The trip by the direct train to the city of Shibuya was full peaceful for the tan-skinned man who sat with his thick arms crossed over his chest as he looked out the window at the panorama of the green plains and the hills that were seen in the horizon to be left behind by the speed of the train that was at its normal power. The sky was bright with its usual light blue tone with the contrast of the sun, giving what I saw through the window a fantastic view, as if it were a painting on a canvas.

His countenance was fierce when he saw himself in the mirror where he was sitting, accentuating his defined features on a face that shook anyone who saw him straight to the face just by seeing him, although he had it for what was about to happen when I will arrive in the city of Shibuya in just one hour along the roads that the machine was driving.

Chaos activity had recently increased to an alarming level when the rise of mental breakdowns that happened in Shibuya began to rise when it was reported in international news that happened in the city's subways, as it was compared to the Syndrome of Apathy a few years, was ravaging Tatsumi Port Island until it soon disappeared mysteriously ... not including the murders that occurred in the town of Inaba after a corrupt policeman was arrested for being responsible for the crimes when he was arrested by the young detective Naoto Shirogane.

He knew perfectly that all the events occurred were the product of supernatural events governed by entities that were hidden in the shadows without being seen, waiting for the moment to attack humanity and submit them to their authority, and that did not surprise him at all by being a human who had lived for a thousand years in an era where big cities and technological development had not begun to develop.

He had seen supernatural activity that was influenced by the energy of the Warp toward those who were sensitive to his influence. Ghosts and monsters were the product of the mutations given by the sinister psychic scourges that made up the Chaos, as well as the influence of the magic given by Tzeentch, the diseases by Nurgle, the bloodthirsty wars conformed by Khorne, and the sexual excesses of Slaanesh, the new deity that was created based on the Eldar psyche that caused the end of his empire and the subsequent formation of the Great Grift in the galaxy, where his influence was free by the earthly plane and leading several civilizations directly to its collapse .

The regions of the Earth were high in the influence of the Warp, and Japan was one of them to have a stronger activity when it came to its influence on folklore with tales of gods and fantasy beings such as dragons and the ghostly yokais told in stories and stanzas in different medieval periods as in Europeans who were described to the public as part of a cultural identity in humanity.

The events of Inaba, Tatsumi Port Island and Shibuya were only seconds, since the first signs of supernatural activity occurred in the city of Mikage-cho when perceiving a huge amount of psychic energy coming from the city, until everything was solved in A blink of an eye. Everything had returned to normal in Mikage-cho with the great signature of psychic energy swept away as dust, but everything had changed when the coastal city of Sumaru was ravaged by the murders of a mysterious figure known as the Joker who grants desire to the person In situations of uncertainty. He deepened the topic about this mysterious figure and the police development he had had after the jester had disappeared from nowhere. He only found in the note published by Maya Amano that the problem had been resolved with the help of the officer Katsuya Suou and his team; That was all he had investigated.

Appearances were sometimes misleading to cover the truth behind the facts, as the myths were based on events that occurred with distorted contexts to transform it into legends told between whispers and rumors that passed from mouth to mouth. Everything that happened in Japan was only the beginning of the absolute calamity that was about to occur when witnessing the next threat that would strike all humanity and the Earth itself.

The information given by Masayoshi Shido at death was a great impact on a global level by revealing his wrongdoing in front of everyone: the use of a world created by the human psyche called the Metaverse where he carried out his plans to kill his rivals on orders of Goro Akechi was that he left him with mixed feelings that he had to be repressed so as not to ride in anger that he already had what he had just seen and heard where he had been with the clientele in the shop with gloomy faces and amazed by everything had said.

No, he shouldn't get carried away by the anger he had. Everything was at stake at this time and the destiny of the earthly plane hung by a thread, then it would be responsible for recovering information from the Metaverse until later eliminating all evidence of its existence; both in electronic records and handwritten files. No one should know of its existence.

As for the Phantom Thieves ... I would simply be on the lookout for them if I found them on the plane to join their crusade against the Chaos daemons and defend the earthly plane of the incoming invasion.

He knew that they could enter the Metaverse with the use of a device, but he had it planned: he would use his perception skills to feel his psychic signatures and be able to enter the cognitive plane with the use of his powerful armor of surface psychic power gold that was stored in his luggage, like his sword. He only had to use his powers to go unnoticed at the airport without the guards checking his luggage. It was naive of him, but he did it for the greater good.

After an hour's journey, the train had reached its destination.

_"We have arrived in the city of Shibuya"_ the electronic voice rang towards the passengers.

He took his luggage and went out the door that opened automatically. He entered the crowd that was ascending the stairs of the station, receiving curious looks from the Japanese; It was not surprising for them to see foreigners from other countries visiting the Land of the Rising Sun for being the most visited by tourists and some commercial shareholders. Japan was one of the countries with high technological development in the world with its purchase and sale of household items among foreign companies that invested in their imports.

His light brown eyes wandered around. The city center was large, in that I could admit, like all fully developed cities in the world. The buildings were tall of different constructions; some socks, others were tall. There were sales announcements on the rooftops and in the stores where they entered and left. Vehicle traffic was advanced, as was the pedestrian activity that I saw on the sidewalks of the streets.

It was surprising that everything had changed in a fraction of millennia in the past. There was a time when all this was nothing more than a vast terrain of plains and hills with wooded areas and winding paths that passed in different directions towards areas with high vegetation and villas with houses of wood and stone. All countries had their own names that changed over the years, as did his city of birth, Anatolia, now Turkey in Asia Minor ... although remembering those moments would be for another time.

The main priority during his stay in Shibuya was to find the Phantom Thieves and prevent Chaos from taking over the Earth.

* * *

In the Leblanc, the Phantom Thieves had gathered inside the cafeteria where they shared a tense and ghostly atmosphere after Shido died in front of all the cameras in Shibuya Center in front of all the public watching the images on TV in the moment of death After what happened, the group of young people waited for something bad to happen while they were in their classes, and the events happened; they arrested Shido's accomplices, investigated the company of Haru's father, and issued an arrest warrant against the SIU Department for corruption and complicity.

Simply, everything went from bad to worse.

"So, is that how it all ends?" Sojiro Sakura replied indignantly. "First Shido dies after revealing all his misdeeds he rushed, and now, all Shibuya went on alert"

"This was supposed to end like this," Ryuji told him without looking at his face, having his gaze on the counter table, with Futaba by his side, who was carrying Morgana in his lap. "We were just going to change Shido's counterpart in honoring Ren's memory ... But this ... this was not intended."

"We can't do anything, Ryuji," Yusuke said solemnly; He was sitting at the second table with Haru, Makoto and Ann. "What happened at Shido Palace completely changed everything. We have failed with our mission, and we are witnessing how society collapses around us."

Seekers of defeat and sadness formed on their faces to remember what happened when they tried with little success to reform Shido and the event that led them to flee.

"First it happened at my sister's Palace, and now the same thing happened at Shido Palace," Makoto said, remembering in terror as he confronted the demonic figure.

"And without counting Akechi's sacrifice for having saved us so that we could complete our mission," Haru spoke in a broken voice, and the whole group was saddened by the death of the young detective who was trying to redeem himself from his sins committed by his thirst for revenge.

Sojiro said nothing; Futaba had told him everything in his house after Shido died, and just thinking that his adopted daughter almost died for that demon made him shudder from fear of losing her, just like he lost Wakaba.

"That demon ..." Ryuji clenched his hands on the bar, forming them into fists. "He beat us without any difficulty, just like that two-headed blue bird made us." His face darkened. "All this time as Phantom Thieves we had faced all kinds of Shadows and we had always won. But this time ... this time is different ... Those two monsters defeated us as if we were no match for their power. Akechi died for nothing "

"You don't have to be in regret," Ann replied. "We did everything in our power to defeat that demon in Shido's Palace, but his strength and abilities was something we had never seen before. That demon almost killed us if it weren't for Akechi's sacrifice."

"He gave his life because he had faith that we were going to bring Shido to justice," Makoto said, and his voice was discouraged, "but the result was the same when the Shadow of Shido fought against him, and he died trying to give us time to escape"

A silence enveloped the cafeteria when they did not want to bring the death of Morgana's Persona, Zorro, and Goro Akechi's headless body in the machinery room. Just remembering it made them panic more than they were.

"Makoto," Haru replied, breaking the silence, "how is your sister right now?"

"Pretty bad," she said uncertainly. "My sister has been baffled and upset after she sees that the SIU worked for Shido to cover up her activities. She, along with the director and all the members that make up the Special Investigations Unit will be put on trial for corruption. They have closed the Department of the SIU, and it will never be open"

That news was an impact for all of Japan when it was discovered that the SIU Director had cheated and conspired with Shido to keep his activities a secret, and his sister, Sae, was stunned and insulted by the organization that had worked for years. more than a nest of corruption in front of his eyes. Sae would be and everyone else would be stripped of their jobs and prosecuted. It was a great deep blow to his sister and to the group that made up the Phantom Thieves.

"Everything we have done, everything we have risked to make society a better place for others is falling ... It is amazing that everything ended at once!" Ryuji snapped at the frustration he had. "With Ren kidnapped and with all Shibuya trying to stand up, it means that everything ended for us"

"Just wait for what is to come" said Futaba stroking Morgana, "and this is only the beginning of the real disaster"

"The coming of Chaos," Morgana quoted, although Sojiro heard him as a meow that he agreed with his adopted daughter.

"Eh?" Ryuji blinked, confused.

"What Shido said after he died," said the orange-haired girl. "He had talked about Chaos coming, just like the head bird in the Palace of Makoto's sister said"

Everyone agreed; Kairos had given them that warning after he almost killed them after he escaped.

"With everything that is going on, a lot of things could happen while we talk" Ryuji let out a heavy moan. "Ren is needed"

"... We all need it, Ryuji," Morgana said in a sad voice. "It's been four weeks since Ren was kidnapped" he ducked his head. "Nothing is the same without him"

They all made pessimistic faces by remembering that four weeks had passed since Ren's abduction at the Palace of Sae Niijima by Kairos Fateweaver, the two-headed blue bird sent from the dimension of Chaos by his dark lord. They tried to rescue him, but their efforts were in vain, as they fought against the demon Be'lakor where he almost killed them, but were for the sacrifice of Goro Aekchi and Shadow Shido to save their lives.

They survived, but there were consequences; Shido's death and the revelation of the whole truth of his actions made Shinuya wild in turbulent waters.

Assuming there was no solution to the problems that were growing, the group decided to wait and see what the catastrophes would be about to occur.

* * *

In the deepest part of Mementos, there was a huge golden cup embroidered with discs and with closed wings in the middle of a huge circular room with red cells inside and two hands on each side of the cup. There were red stems that connected to the surface of the roof, as well as one with the shape of a spine that was in the center of the inside of the cup, as if it were a kind of heart that kept the place alive, and it was.

That was the Holy Grail, the representation of the distorted emotions and desires between uncertainty and corruption that plagued human society amid the despair of order and security.

As his name indicated, referring to the sacred cup where he was blessed by Jesus Christ for having drunk from him at the Last Supper where it is said that he has miraculous powers who drinks it, and is also mentioned in the Arthurian tale where Sir Lancelot finds him for the first time in his search. But this Holy Grail was not the authentic one, but an object created by human desire that kept alive the dimensional plane of the cognitive world of the Metaverse where the dark versions of the individuals formed.

The Holy Grail, in addition to being the energy engine that constituted Mementos, was the original form of the cognitive god Yaldabaoth where he manipulated and observed the events that happened on the earthly plane. The room where he was was a prison where the Shadow Beings were moved when they were reformed by the Phantom Thieves.

The red glow of the cells around him was a demonstration that humanity claimed to be slaves of order and authority, and that was why the Holy Grail had ordered that all the reformed Shadow Beings be sent to the great chamber that was the Prison Regression where all were stored in their own cells to begin with the stage of the plan; consisting of using the entire flow of the reformed to fuse reality with the Metaverse, and that would be when the Phantom Thieves confronted him in his chamber, being very prepared to test the spirit of survival of humans whether or not they deserved indoctrination of the law.

But it was never planned during the change of events.

A slight anomaly on his stage had completely knocked out the entire plan put in place.

The kidnapping of the Trickster of Hope and the subsequent death of the Trickster of Destruction marked a turning point where his plan began to fall apart. A new threat had emerged at the least expected moment; a threat that came from a plane shaped by the corrupt and perverse psychic thoughts of living beings, inhabited by lethal and dangerous beings that were attributed the name of demons or daemons.

The appearance of the two demonic entities had hindered many of their plans, so much so that they had generated a great panic on the earthly plane where the flow of despair and fear began to feel very intense among the panic after the human known as Masayoshi Shido passed away in front of the video cameras.

Fear, horror and terror; they were those thoughts that he could perceive from the minds of humans when he was in an alarming situation, and he could understand it perfectly by being the core of Mementos and recipient of all human emotions.

The real calamity was about to occur at the least expected moment that could appear just around the corner.

And it happened.

He felt like a crushing and corrupt energy source formed just outside Mementos. The sky, which was previously crimson, was a deep and sickly pink. Blue lightning flashed with thunder about the nebulas that had formed during the change of the sky, and intense fluctuations of psychic energy hit much of the Metaverse, as if it were a whip.

It was then that he felt the corrupt auras of the invaders. It was not a hundred, but thousands, maybe many, something that could be assumed. Everyone fired death auras just by feeling their presences that contaminated the Metaverse. They were of different varieties with colors of blue, green, purple and red, but I couldn't lie that they were overwhelming just by seeing their conglomerated auras on the surface above.

There were movements among the demons that had appeared; They were anxious and impatient for the new world around them. Thunderous roars echoed sharply, and watched as the demons descended through the entrance of the original subway copy.

The Holy Grail, seeing that the demons dabbled within Mementos, decided to take action on the matter: he sent a wave through all the areas that constituted the interior of Mementos and manifested a large number of Shadows that would serve him as containment against the demons, but they would not endure so much before the invading surge.

The Reaper would keep any enemy who crossed their path at bay as guardian of the Iweleth Path; he would fire rounds of deadly shots at demons with the naked eye, but he wouldn't resist for long.

Now, with everything that happened, he must quickly find a solution. If he fell, all Mementos would be under the control of the demons and infect all the Shadow Beings protected inside the chamber if they managed to enter. The Metaverse would be razed and chaos would reign over the underworld, but he would not let that happen; he wouldn't let his entire domain fall into the dark influence of demons.

Chaos would not reign over order if he would not allow that to happen. He was the god that all mankind had expected who would bring authority over anarchy. It was the light in the darkness. He was the embodiment of law and order on mortals and on the earthly plane.

And as an act of his divinity as the only salvation of mankind, he would seek the helpers of the Trickster of Hope.

* * *

Morgana had woken up overwhelmingly on Futaba's lap when she felt something had happened. When he looked around with wide eyes like blinds, he saw that he was not in the girl's room, but in a kind of rectangular cell where he saw through the bars a spacious circular room with cells and a lighted desk with a single light above megaphones.

At the desk, sat a hunched older man with an elongated nose that reminded him of that of a toucan, creepy eyes injected with blood and black clothing. On both sides were two girls between fourteen; They wore blue velvet uniforms with short gray chores and had different aspects: the first had braided horsetail-shaped platinum hair with a patch on her left eye and a notebook, and the second had braided hair in the form of a bun and He carried a baton. The two had the eyes of an intense gold and with police hats, in addition to exuding a powerful supernatural aura in view of the cat.

"What?!" Morgana exclaimed when she saw the strange place where she was.

"It seems our first guest woke up," said the older man in a husky and deep voice.

"Ehh?" the cat repeated, and a sense of recognition came to mind when he felt that he had been in this place, until he remembered the revelation that the two-headed blue bird had explained. "Wait a minute! This is not ..."

"The Velvet Room. Welcome," said the girl with a courtesy.

"It can't be! Futaba, awake! Futaba!"

"Hmmm ... huh ...!" muttered sleepy Futaba when stood lazily. "Morgana ... what is it ...? ... Eh? ... Eeeeeeeeeh!" She exasperated to see that her pajamas had changed to her black Metaverse suit with green lines and green pants, just like she had her binoculars with red lenses. "What happened to my pajamas, and why do I have my thief suit?! And what happened to my room?!"

"Eh? ¿Futaba? Futaba, is that you?" said a sleepy and familiar voice in the fourth cell where Morgan saw Ryuji's work with her pirate costume. He noted that he was not the only one to appear in the strange prison; Ann, Makoto, Haru and Yusuke were awakened in their respective cells with their Phantom Thieves attire as they were confused in the strange place where they woke up.

There was anguish between the group, but they were silenced when the braided-haired girl shut them all up when she raised her voice that made them call attention.

"Inmates, today is not the time for you to act like children! Master Igor attracted you from their homes because it is very urgent"

"Urgent?" Yusuke commented with concern. "... I don't understand, where are we? What is this prison?"

"I understand that all of you are dismayed by what is happening when I had to summon you in this situation," the older man with an elongated nose who sat hunched at his desk spoke in a husky and deep voice; His hands were crossed across the wooden surface and an alarming look in his wide eyes that created fright among the Phantom Thieves. His tone was tangent when he spoke: "You are the only ones who can contain this threat"

"Threat?" Ryuji questioned, confused. "I don't understand, sir ..."

"Igor" appeared in advance the old man before the young who wanted to know identification and to know where they were. "My name is Igor. I am the person who gave the power to its leader the application where you can enter the Metaverse and reform the Shadow Beings like the Phantom Thieves. You are in a place called the Velvet Room in where I am the owner, and these are my two assistants: Justine and Caroline"

That revelation of the man named Igor completely impacted the group.

"Just a moment!" Makoto said with surprise. "Did you say this place is the Velvet Room?!"

Igor and his assistants were surprised that she knew about the existence of the place.

"Exactly, but how did you find out? Was it the Trickster who told you?" Justine demanded curiously.

"No, it was the two-headed blue bird, Kairos, who revealed to us that Ren had obtained his ability to invoke different Persona, as with Goro Akechi who had the same ability, but was given by an entity called Yaldabaoth that He used both as pawns in his game," Morgana said, recounting the events three weeks ago. "And also ... I am an inhabitant of the Velvet Room"

The two twins were perplexed, while Igor swallowed while drops of sweat ran down his temples.

"Hmmm ... I see ..." said the owner of the Velvet Room, trying to hide his nervousness so the twins wouldn't notice. "... It means you remember who you are ... right?"

The twins tilted their heads at the response of their master.

"Yes, I remember who I am," the cat replied frankly, "but only a few pieces of my memory; I was created by you with the purpose of helping Ren as a guide on his journey to face an invisible calamity that was ravaging humanity, but something happened that made all my memories erase when I woke up in the Kamoshida Palace. It was Yaldabaoth who noticed my presence when he made sure I was eliminated."

"Oh!" Igor forced a smile on his lips to be genuine without raising suspicion. "I'm glad you remembered, my dear Morgana! But I'm afraid we'll have to leave that for another time. The real priority of his invocations is to safeguard the Metaverse."

"Safeguard the Metaverse?" Ann repeated, confused. "But, what threat, Mr. Igor?"

"From a threat from the same demonic race that you had faced twice in your first encounters. These beings have managed to invade the Metaverse at this time as we speak."

The Phantom Thieves were petrified of fear and horror.

"That's impossible!" exasperated loudly Ryuji, frightening in his tone.

"I'm afraid it's true," said the old man with deep sincerity, depressing and sharp. "The Ren's abduction and the death of Masayoshi Shido was only the beginning of the true catastrophe that was looming in the midst of despair and panic that human society on the earthly plane is suffering. The invasion of Metaverse is a surprise attack"

The group shuddered.

"This ... this was already predicted," Yusuke muttered, stunned.

"What did you say?" Haru commented as he looked at him.

"The warning of Kairos that he made to us when we fought against him in the Palace of prosecutor Niijima, just like Shido said after he died! Now everything is making sense!"

The group was horrified.

"No… it can't be…" Ann said speechlessly, covering her mouth and with the ones under her panther mask.

"Chaos would reign over us ... we are lost" said Futaba with his head down and his voice broken.

"But ... why did they invade the Metaverse? What do they plan to do there?" Makoto questioned.

"What they want is to seize the core that keeps the Metaverse alive in the deepest part of Mementos: the heart," commented the girl with a briefcase to the Phantom Thieves, who were surprised to remember that fateful encounter.

"The final zone of Mementos, guarded by the Reaper," Morgana said, recalling all the information she knew about the center of the cognitive copy of the Shibuya metro. "The center of Mementos also serves as an energy source as an electric battery that allows the existing operation of the Metaverse. Mementos represents a huge Palace created by society, while the core would be the Te ... No! NO! It is impossible! That means everything is at stake!"

The group looked at him incompressible at what he said, but Igor simplified it for them to understand:

"The nucleus exerts its function as Treasure, as well as that of a heart. If the Treasure falls into the hands of demons, it would mean all Mementos would fall into its influence; the human world would be engulfed in ruins and populated with soul-hungry demons. The power of Chaos would reign on the earthly plane, and everything would be in vain: humanity would be extinct, that is why I summoned you, you must protect the Treasure in the last chamber of Mementos and prevent the demons from achieving their victory. And besides, it is the essence of Yaldabaoth's power"

The last word overshadowed the group, which at the same time impacted them and left them with loose jaws.

"... The Treasure ... Is the Treasure the essence of Yaldabaoth? ... How?" said Ryuji, stunned.

"That will be for another occasion, the Treasury will tell them when they are in their chamber. But, before they go, I will make improvements to their Persona"

"Do you improve our Persona?" repeated Haru. "But what improvements?"

"Evolution" took the word Justine with mastery. "Your Persona are strong because of your psychological and mental efforts that you had in your personal problems. Your social ties with the Trickster strengthened the energy of your Persona with the maturation of your psyches as social bonds increased with communication. and companionship. But the Persona were never prepared when you had your first two encounters with this new threat"

The Phantom Thives agreed with her; the two demons from another dimension had been a constancy between living or dying when they were almost on the verge of death twice: Kairos manipulated a powerful magic when confronted with him in the Palace of the prosecutor Sae Niijima, while Be'lakor proved to be a formidable opponent when it was a melee fight by remembering how Shadow Shido was subsequently defeated and killed with his sword, the same sword that completely eliminated Zorro from existence.

"Master Igor ..." Morgana said uncertainly, but the owner of the Velvet Room stopped him when he raised his hand.

"I know that your Persona has been eliminated forever with the contact of a leaf that is capable of piercing the flesh and the soul. Losing your Persona is as if you lost a part of your existence, but that does not mean that I can create you another new Persona"

"Eh?"

Igor said nothing; he handed Caroline seven letters, and she handed it to the group. The Phantom Thieves observed in their hands their own letter delivered by the girl, incomprehensible in what they had.

"Those letters that I gave you represent your bond with the Trickster. Each Arcana that you have symbolizes your personalities that have forced you to become your Confidants; among them are the Hermit's, the Love's, the Magician's, the Priestess, that of the Empress, that of the Chariot and that of the Emperor. These Arcana identify them who they really are, and will strengthen them in this moment of crisis"

The letters lit up, and the glow adhered like dust coming into contact with their masks. The Phantom Thieves experienced a headache, but in turn they felt a warm sensation of enlightenment growing in their mind. They could feel how their Persona began to change their appearance and power, just as Morgana felt. Where an empty cave was, it was now inhabited by his new Persona: it was like Zorro, but different, since he had his white shirt uncovered while his black raincoat was waving at his back like a cape and blue gloves that They covered him in his sturdy hands. In his right hand a black foil with a tornado-shaped guard and a round head covered with a black mask and a mustache-like tie.

He must say that his new Persona filled him with joy when he felt as if Zorro had not died.

_'Master Morgana'_ spoke courteously his new Persona with a respectful inclination, _'allow yourself to introduce myself: I am Diego, mostly known as Don Diego de la Vega, the person who embodies my old counterpart, Zorro. I swear before my sword that I will give all my spirit and my courage to protect you and avenge the death of my lawlessness. I swear!'_

_'Thank you'_ Morgana mused with joy and softness to feel a calm in his mind to have a representation of his former Persona who would accompany him. He knew perfectly well that the Persona are original copies of fictional characters of various genres, and Zorro was one of them when he was first presented in his homonymous literary work by Johnston McCulley in 1919 where the plot was in Spanish California where it is presented to the aristocrat Don Diego de la Vega as the main protagonist with a double life without anyone noticing.

He watched his friends as the evolution of his Persona had arisen in their minds when they felt them wake up in the midst of mental mists. The change strengthened them in their psyches with this blessing that the old man gave them.

"Now that you have undergone the transformation of your Persona, it is time that you do your part of the job" Igor snapped his fingers, and all the cells opened automatically. The Phantom Thieves came out of them, and watched as a blue velvet door with a golden butterfly shaped in the center had formed behind. The old man added in a hoarse and rough voice: "This door will lead you inside Mementos when you enter it. With this new awakening that I have given you I can help you against the demons. I wish you good fortune, Phantom Thieves, the destiny of the humanity batter in their hands"

The Phantom Thieves nodded with determination in their countenance when they disappeared as they entered the interior of the open door until it closed and vanished into a white glow.

"Master," Justine spoke with disagreement, "... do you think they will make it?"

"... Even with the evolution of his Persona?" Caroline added in the same tone as her twin sister.

"Only the passage of events will tell, my girls ... you have to be patient and see the result!" Igor reassured them, not knowing that the entity that owned it did not agree that the companions of the Trickster of Hope could survive in the infestation that was plagued by Mementos.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves watched in spectral silence like what once was the representation of the Shibuya subway where they always rode on the trains to go to their classes, it was just an area shattered by the little crimson light that barely illuminated the gloom That swallowed the subway. There were deep potholes in the form of beastly footsteps, like a mob of animals would have passed by. The stench was toxic and stifling, almost irrespirable, and at the same time, familiar.

"They passed by," Morgana argued to the group as he watched the right side towards the dimly lit gloom between footsteps and the demonic smell. "In that direction is where we have to go"

"The last road where the Treasure of Mements is located," Yusuke commented, recalling the information explained by Igor. "It is possible that the Shadows are facing them in preventing them from taking over the core that keeps Mementos alive"

"Not to mention that the Reaper must be protecting the passage," the cat nodded. "Come on, we don't have!" He said, while transforming into the mini-bus on the railroad track. "Get on!"

The teenagers climbed inside the vehicle, and Makoto drove as he entered the gloom, with the lights on and lighting up the long road ahead.

With the vehicle moving, the Phantom Thieves witnessed how their journey was tense and full of suspense. The atmosphere was icy and chilling, the walls were torn and the stench was getting thicker and heavier.

There were no trains, in that they observed the group, and no sign of Shadows activity during the course of the trip without having met any. Ryuji asked about it, and Morgana replied that it was possible that all Shadow Beings were transported by trains during the incursion of the demons inland where they were going.

Makoto turned in a clockwise direction, avoiding a crash that clogged the left side. She drove calmly, but without even keeping her guard down and kept an eye on her, trying to suppress the fear that enveloped her with the hammering of her heart like a drum. The demons could attack them off guard at the right moment along the way if they remained ignorant of the threatening danger that surrounded Mementos deep.

Driving the Mona-Bus along the lonely road in the middle of potholes and footsteps, Makoto turned the steering wheel in a northeasterly direction, leaving behind an infrastructure collapse, just as they saw more coming as they advanced in silence. She turned along a route with them on a downward spiral path, until they crossed in a straight line a spacious section full of pillars and rails that were divided in three directions that led them to other areas that was constituted by the huge Palace formed by the psyche of modern society.

Morgana served as a compass in which direction they should proceed, and led them along the right path in a section in a southeasterly direction with ample space, but with some surprises that horrified the group.

In the section, the group observed a large number of bodies of different aspects and colors, as well as black miasmas that scattered along the way. Some with demonic features were spotted among the swollen green bodies of rot, while others were humanoid with dark pink female and male features with crab claws. There were others who caught his attention, such as some with horrible deformations that caused nightmares of just seeing him ... not counting some red demons the size of a robust man with horns and heads shaped like rabid dogs with elongated jaws.

Without a doubt, that made them panic.

"We are in the right direction" Morgana responded automatically to the group.

"God ..." Yusuke said without words.

"This is awful." Futaba swallowed hard. "Hopefully we don't find those things"

"Everything will be fine, guys," the cat transformed into a vehicle spoke, reassuring the Phantom Thieves that were inside. "Remember that I have the ability to perceive energy sources over long distances"

The trip continued in silence without incident with Makoto behind the wheel. She drove quietly along the tracks, leaving behind the bodies they found until they disappeared with the movement of the Mona-Bus's wheels as they passed along the track until they turned to an interception where she led them to a section with more space and train tracks on both sides.

They were reaching the depths of Path Iweleth, the final stretch of Mementos, the abode of the Treasure and protected by their guardian, the Reaper.

Just when everything was calm, a shrill, high-pitched scream completely froze their souls just like their Personas.

They looked for the origin of that terrifying sound, and were surprised with horror to see four flying blue stingray chasing them, leaving multicolored trails through the air at an abnormal speed.

Makoto squeezed the throttle hard, and the Mona-Bus ran at full speed, but not even that left him behind the four animals that chased him like sharks in search of their prey.

"I'll take care of them!" Ryuji, who was on the right side of the door next to Futaba, Ann and Yusuke, leaned out the window and summoned his Persona. "Get out now, William!" The mask was consumed by the blue flames, and from it took the form of a skeleton with modern clothes that constituted a black jacket covered by a hood, red headphones, and sunglasses. He was riding on a yacht instead of the old pirate ship and a silver cannon attached to his right arm.

An intense fireball shot out of the hole in William's silver cannon, and the four blue manta rays scattered, as impact generated a crackling explosion that tore roof and caused it to collapse.

The blue stingrays fluttered through the air in various directions, throwing shrieks from the aftermath that made the group shudder. Morgana, in his bus form, tried to keep his course, but the howls of the creatures rumbled all over his interior, causing him to lose his way and hit a wall in the left corner.

The impact caused Morgana to return to her original form in a prone position, stunned by the pain and shuddered by the howls of the four flying stingray that revolved around them, wrapping her between screams and multicolored trails.

"... Gorokichi ...!" Yusuke shouted, invoking the new transformation of his old Persona among the blue flames that consumed the white fox mask, and took the form of a slender figure with a large pink coat with leopard edges that exposed a black mesh shirt and dark leather pants with silver pointed heels, in addition to having a gold medal with the number five stamped in the center and with four chains that passed behind his back. His face was ivory, with light blue hair reminiscent of Elvis Presley's, lightning-shaped ruby glasses and a square jaw like a golden beard. In his left hand he held a large cigar of brown metal that emerged from inside a powerful tornado that swept in the direction of the four stingray, but they evaded the attack when they deployed with speed in four solo groups.

The flying beasts bellowed with strident squeaks at angles drawn over the Phantom Thieves, making the evolved Persona of Yusuke Kitagawa shaken that made him shiver like jello, but kept his composure firmly, though stunned.

Yusuke ordered him to attack with another skill, and Gorokichi summoned a powerful wave of sound that he could send to the four manta rays against the ground, leaving his multicolored glow in the air.

"You did it!" Ryuji said cheerfully.

"I don't think so, look!" he pointed out, and the group watched with open eyes as the four blue manta rays rose into the air with a murderous aura that made them nervous, and in turn, shuddered by the crushing cry of creatures that put them in a fetal position, physically affecting them when they tried of enduring howls.

The stingrays, gleaming a deep murderous and predatory look that was accompanied by their deadly aura, brutally and ruthlessly dismembered Gorokichi with his sharp fangs that came into contact with his body until he turned into a blue smoke.

Seeing that they were the following, Futaba reacted in advance by invoking his evolved Persona, Al Azif.

The Persona was a triangular ship with a gray chromed steel surface with light blue diamond-shaped lights and Necronomicon-like diameter. The interior of the ship was the same without any change, where Futaba typed the digital screens with agility, and with it activated the defense systems.

"Take this!" She pressed a button, and a quantum discharge covered the four stingray with a blinding light that calcined them in the process, eliminating them from existence.

"Well done, Futaba!" Congratulated Haru, as did the others for saving them.

Futaba smiled inside his ship as he posed with his two fingers in the form of peace.

"You're welcome, guys, although it seems that we should put aside the thanks; I detect a lot of signals about two or three kilometers away on the north side." His blows widened when he saw the statistics and the increase of unidentified signals began to rise. "This is bad! Guys, numerous energy sources are approaching us! Oh, God, they are closer! They are getting closer!"

The group took defensive positions and invoked their Personas by following the alarming warning of computer genius.

Roars were heard from the southwest direction between the pillars and rails, as well as dark, deep footsteps that managed to shake the Phantom Thieves and their Personas.

Morgana felt overwhelming and almost breathless as she felt the demons approach between roars and shrieks; his heart did not stop beating like a drum and sweat fell down his temples. He had a bad feeling that this would go wrong, but he repressed it; there was no time to feel fear at a time when courage was required to face the arrival of his enemies.

In a battlefield there is no place for the weak, only the strongest who have faced death are those who must resist and die with honor if it is a choice to be made.

"There they come!" Futaba pointed inside Al Azif. "Prepare to attack!"

In the direction where she had shouted, Morgana watched with wide eyes the demons that were approaching: they were goats, goats with a dark pink appearance with female and male parts with crab claws and spears formed in their arms; they had thin tongues that moved like those of an anteater and their hairs were like whips when rocking. He also spotted some grotesque beasts swollen with fungi and with rusty armor, as well as their weapons that were brandishing in the air. There were other horrible-looking demons with mutations with four arms and centaur heads and goats.

The roars were shocking as they approached with their intense enveloping aura of madness and lust. It was dizzy and nauseating that Morgana had to testify again after her first two encounters with Kairos and Be'lakor.

_'It is not the time to panic, they are approaching if not a movement first!'_

"NOW GUYS! Go, Diego!"

The group of young teenagers nodded at the indication of the cat and invoked the attack of their Personas.

"William!"

"Celestine!"

"Gorokichi!"

"Lucy!"

"Agnes!"

An acclaimed combined attack among its evolved People generated a great explosive boom that completely shook the walls and floor. Smoke was rising like a ghostly mantle rising. The smell was foul when inhaled in the air by the Phantom Thieves watching their play against the wave of demons that went like wild wolves in droves.

The thick smoke began to clear as it was dissipating little by little, leaving only half of a large one-meter crater exposed with debris and rails scattered in a mass of destruction with barely dissipated smoke walls.

That could only be considered as an action taken in self-defense against the avenue of demons, even knowing that the atmosphere was heavy and tense with the cold sensation that it would hardly come, and that was what Morgana was attentive, but it was Futaba Sakura who was alarmed within her Persona.

"New sources of energy are approaching us at this time!" she yelled in panic to see how the numbers and heat signatures were ascending.

Several thin figures emerged between the smoke walls like hyenas and jumped like a rabbit until they descended towards them.

Futaba remained suspended in the air inside Al Azif as he watched as his friends defended themselves against their attackers: they were the same androgynous humanoids of pink complexion with thin limbs and with blades and tongs in their arms that they had seen in the Mona-Bus at witness their lifeless bodies along with the black miasma of the Shadows during the long journey of the road between ruins and the foul smell of toxins.

But those pink demons were not the only ones fighting the Phantom Thieves, but were accompanied by grotesque blue and pink creatures with several limbs and square faces that gave off an aura of madness while letting squeaky squeaky laughs similar to those of children minors

The little blue and pink creatures moved at a daunting and elusive rhythm that made it easy for him to escape from the attacks of the Persona, while the pale pink complexed humanoids threw traces of sinister and sinister to the Phantom Thieves.

Ryuji moved his pirate saber by stopping the purple blades as he stepped away safely against the counterattacks directed by the tongs that were almost embedded in his body to stop one and give a rotating kick to his attacker who left him stunned and timely in lunge at the center of the skull; his evolved Persona, William, supported his summoner in directing Ziodyne's attacks on three of the humanoid beings with three limbs of purple blades that dodged the attacks very easily.

The three humanoids danced around him, and prepared to jump on him, although William made his move when he saw that the demons of pale rasas undertook their respective jumps, just at the right time where he unloaded a strong discharge of Mazionga that left them with seared skin and killed in progress.

"Well done, William!" Ryuji said, feeling confident that he could defeat the two demons they had left. "Come for me dare, you bastards!"

Both demons roared with fury as they pounced on him. Ryuji rolled across the floor to the left side, where the blades and tweezers made contact with the concrete sharply. He stood energetically, and chopped the first at an inclined angle. The ichor was purple indigo when the blade of his weapon and the leather jacket were stained. He finished the second with a precise movement exerted by the force of his right arm that held his saber by cutting the last demon left in an arc. The entrails flew through the air as much as his ichor when he was bathed on the ground.

Ryuji let out a snort of tiredness at feeling like his body was exhausted by the adrenaline he had to use in fighting his opponents with a feeling of euphoria that let him out in frustration and resentment for these demons to feel that he could not do anything in saving his friend when he was kidnapped by the demon named Kairos who almost killed them in the Palace of Makoto's older sister, as well as his subsequent encounter with Be'lakor in the Shido Palace where they would suffer the same fate, although they were Goro Akechi and Masayoshi Shido who lived in their own flesh, resulting in fighting these demons was to enter a danger zone that is at risk your own life.

While Ryuji finished resting for a while in regaining energy, he went to help his Persona against more demons. And as for the others, they were having a hard time: Makoto was trying to get rid of the four blues that were mounted on top of Agnes in a crazy way, Yusuke and Gorokichi dealt with the humanoid demons of androgynous features and the little pink demons of four arms with blue flares in his hands, Haru swung his new ax at sharp and right angles against five demons with tweezers and purple blades, Ann dodged the attacks that launched him as he moved like a feline in agile and cautious movements, Morgana and Diego defended themselves by more than they could against more demons of androgynous aspects.

Futaba helped send several resistance and strength skills to his friends, but he was bothered by the spheres of energy thrown by the grazed and blue creatures, as if they were fragmentation grenades.

The fight turned into despair in just a second that completely overwhelmed the Phantom Thieves; It was easy with the androgynous pink demon humanoids, but those the size of a child with limbs of various numbers and grotesque faces was the last straw. Their lethal powers when they threw blue fireballs and powerful telekinetic slings that brought Gorokichi, Agnes and Lucy out of the fight, as well as their summoners.

"We will not be able to resist so much," said Morgana cat, squeezing to block a purple blade and then do a somersault when almost a pincer would attack him in the rear. "Magaru!"

His Persona nodded with his given order; He turned his foil, and from it emerged a violent wind that whipped stridently towards the pink and blue creatures that were affected by the attack.

"Come on guys, don't give up, we can beat you! We just have to prove our worth that we won't let ourselves be defeated!" Morgana encouraged her teammates, which motivated them in the fight.

Makoto was able to get rid of the four blue beings that scratched and inflicted severe damage on Agnes; Summoning Mafrei's attack helped him a lot. Ann defeated her enemies with the protection of Celestine, her evolved Persona, who provided her with a healing spell and a deadly fire attack on the creatures, just as Haru did with Lucy. Futaba was able to beat his team by sending them the heavy arsenal that Al Azif had.

There was no single enemy in sight. It was a victory for the Phantom Thieves, something exhausting, but something was something.

"Man ... that was exhausted ... tell me they won't come anymore," Ryuji replied in a voice cut off by the inhalations he took.

"I can't predict that, frankly," Morgana said dryly. "We were ambushed at the right time when we were almost missing several sections to reach the Treasure"

Yusuke scrutinized the cut bodies of the androgynous humanoid demons that were lying on the ground, with the entrails coming out and the ichor staining the walls and debris. They were horrible to the naked eye of a person who was looking at him, although being a painter who likes to recognize art in rare and strange aspects that were fantastic, he would paint these beings around him on a canvas, but that would be for another time.

"These demons were a challenge, but we managed to overcome them with ease" the young painter looked towards the bodies of the blue and pink creatures. "Those things gave war with their powers, which reminds me of the same power that Kairos had in the Niijima prosecutor's Palace"

"You're right, but I was at the level of that two-headed bird that almost killed us there," Ryuji spat angrily. "These bastards demonstrated those powers, and I must say they are strong, even in resisting attacks"

"I agree with you"

"Futaba" Makoto called, "you could do a sweep in case if more demons appear in this area"

"In it," the orange-haired hacker responded by activating a green screen with a transparent background appeared in the air as if by magic. Futaba typed the buttons on the virtual screen, and an alarming rise in lines began to rise at the rate of a rise and fall. "Whaaa! The energy sensors went crazy! There's a torrent of targets coming towards us!"

The Phantom Thieves tensed as they had to fight again. The entire area was infested with demons from Chaos that would attack at any time at the time indicated in each hidden opening as hyenas. Staying where they were and continuing to fight would be suicide; they were not like the Shadows, but dangerous beings from another dimension that came to bring terror.

The roars grew closer, and more voracious, causing them to shudder internally. The footsteps were deep and thunderous. There were howling and raging howls that were heard more closely. In the distance, among the pillars, the group could see five figures that were approaching at rapid pace, followed by a dark aura that surrounded them just by witnessing them.

The creature that guided the others in the middle was something taken from the most terrible nightmares they had seen in their lives, so much so that they could relate it because of the relationship he had with Be'lakor, although he had the skin of a deep crimson like the blood, with an elongated head and four horns; the first two extended over his head and curled over two skulls, and the two little ones extended downward, passing his jaw. He was dressed in black obsidian armor with brass ornaments. On its back was a long and fluid cape, where a mass of skulls was exposed, inspiring terror to the Phantom Thieves. In his right hand he carried a sword with a flaming jet jet of red energy with irregular edges, as well as an inscription of runes that could barely be seen on the blade.

The demon was riding a kind of rhinoceros covered by a brass armor with predatory teeth in his broad jaw similar to that of a rabid dog, his head being the same as a dog with deep ruby eyes flaming like the fire he produced when jogging with his thick legs the size of a truck tire. The creature's blade protruding from its hull was a viciously irregular horn, taller and wider than an adult man; both shoulders had tips that protruded to the sides, with skulls impaled on both ends. Around his neck was a necklace of blood-stained skewers with a thick chain strap. The creature was terrifying in itself for the Phantom Thieves in watching him run towards them, not counting that he was accompanied by his hunting followers.

The demons that accompanied him were similar to the minotaurs, but with a bloody crimson skin and with the heads of rabid dogs that made them shiver in terror by being struck with their piercing eyes like the flames of hell themselves. They carried monstrous axes with plastered runes and whips with small spikes, in addition to wearing brass armor that covered their sturdy robust torsos. The wings of the demons were a black coal combined with a ruby red, giving a frightening and menacing look when they saw them move in a single run.

The Phantom Thieves felt as if a kind of invisible block fell on them, crushing and suffocating. Seeing those demons coming towards them was as if they were seeing their own deaths. A feeling of despair completely anointed them, they felt they had to relive the memories in the Shido Palace, where Be'lakor had murdered Zorro and Akechi.

Fear engulfed them just from standing, undecided whether they had to attack or not.

They had their evolved Personas that Igor had done to them in the Velvet Room when they entered Mementos. They managed to defeat the demons that had found them in the midst of the devastation, but to see a horde of red demons that were wrapped in a radiating aura of death and fire that they left in their wake.

Morgana thought whether the new powers of the evolved Personas could against those, if they would work or fail, but one thing was certain; those weapons carried by demons radiated the same energy as Be'lakor's sword. With a single tear of his blade, it was all over forever.

The group was ready to counterattack, but some energy firms drew attention to the talking cat that was about to make its Persona attack first using Magaru.

In front of them three Shadows appeared in the middle, which in turn had become Hecatonchires.

"What...?" Ryuji said incredulously to what he saw, until a distorted voice caught their attention.

_"There are no moments for questions"_ The Phantom Thieves turned back; there were eight Kelpies that were suspended in the air, waiting for them to ride. The one in the middle had spoken and walked towards them with a look in his ruby eyes._ "Quick humans, they will give us time while we get you out of here! Hurry up and get on!"_

The Phantom Thieves did not hesitate in a second when everyone climbed into the ghostly greenish horses of the Scottish folklore.

While on their mounts, the ghostly horses turned and rode in the air towards the narrow path, while the dying screams of the Shadows being torn by the demons echoed like a shrill echo in a cave.

* * *

The Shadows in the shape of Kelpies had left them at a station that overlooked the Treasure chamber. Their trip had taken them through a great tour of devastation and ruins with closed steps and collapsed debris. The Kelpie riding Morgana explained that they faced a bloodthirsty against the incursion of demons upon entering Mementos. All areas and stations were nothing more than piles of rubble wherever they looked. Zones of battles, that was the right word to describe what had happened.

The Kelpie also said that all Shadow Beings were evacuated at the right time when a portal had formed abroad; All the Shadows gave everything to protect their home, but the demons had been strong and rude when they exchanged blows. The Shadow specified that there were still demons in every hidden place of Mementos and in the shortcuts, looking for the true path that led them to the heart of Mementos, the Holy Grail.

The Phantom Thieves got out of the Kelpies, and jumped in terror when they saw the Reaper in front, although he didn't get hostile when they saw him.

_"He won't hurt them"_ comforted the Kelpie who had been riding Morgana to the group that was looking for an answer. _"Your duty as guardian is to protect and safeguard this last bastion in the midst of this struggle. I will leave you so that you can go where the Holy Grail is: he is waiting for you"_

"Wait a minute" the cat called before the Kelpies could leave. Shadows shaped like greenish spectral horses watched him curiously. "Why did they help us?"

_"The Holy Grail believes that you are the key so that the Metaverse does not fall into the possession of demons. You, Phantom Thieves, are the only ones able to prevent your earthly plane from falling. It is all I can say"_ And with that, the Kelpies had left, leaving the group alone with the uncertainty and incompression that everything was happening in a kind of sickly madness.

"Well ... it seems that there is no logic to this" Morgana groaned, and watched the entrance to the interior of the chamber where the essence of Yaldabaoth's power was. He realized that he had forgotten the presence of the Reaper who was standing in a corner on the left side on the desert road without any train passing.

Seeing him standing as if he were a statue made him shudder a lot, but he knew that the powerful Shadows would not harm them; his tall figure wrapped in his jet habit and with his two long chain revolvers was to be scared to see him suspended in the air. His face painted a white skull was fixed on the narrow path that led forward, standing still, silent, still, waiting for a demon to approach.

The Reaper looked at them in silence for an hour that had passed in a disturbing silence; He did not make a threatening gesture and returned to make his watchman round.

"Come on, guys," Morgana gestured toward the teenagers to accompany him to the door that led them inward, which opened automatically. "It won't hurt us"

The teenagers nodded with compression, and followed him down to the inside of the chamber when the door closed behind them.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves were amazed at those they were seeing.

The camera was huge and wide. The roof was of an arc-shaped construction in the middle of a dim atmosphere with red lights. A narrow path of dark brown ceramic tiles stretched to a quadrangular wall with an opening that served as a closed door with the design of an inverted triangle. On both sides there were several trains parked in bedrooms that gave kinship like buildings in the real world, illuminated a dim red light.

The group had spotted some Shadow Beings that walked towards the open doors that were located in the gigantic closed door.

"But what about this place?" Haru said in amazement.

"Hmmm, have judged by the designs of this structure, I say that it is a kind of train station where they make their final stop" explained Futaba logically, and then she pointed out on both sides. "Come to the Shadow Beings who are walking towards those doors; it means that everyone had been summoned in a mandatory way when they were evacuated from each Mementos place"

"That ... does that mean it is due to the order given by the Treasure?" Ann asked curiously.

"As given by Kelpie, I think so," said Morgana.

"This place gives me the chills," Ryuji said, shivering with his eyes around him.

"We must put aside our anguish; we have a mission to fulfill," Morgana shouted as leader, making his teammates realize the true situation they were in.

"True," Makoto nodded seriously. "We have to meet him ..." His speech was cut off by the imminent surprise that the door opened with a sharp and loud sound, similar to that of a door made of stone.

From her had emerged a Shadow with the appearance of a prison guard who walked towards them and looked at them attentively, in turn speaking to them in the usual distorted speech tone.

_"Phantom Thieves, the Holy Grail is waiting for you in your bedroom. Please follow me. He deserves your presence urgently."_

The group looked at each other incognitably, but decided to heed the Shadow as a guard and follow him without any logic in knowing that the Treasury knew of their presences when they entered Mementos.

Their guide led them through the open entrance of the door; they passed through it, and entered a vast gigantic chamber with buildings like cells with black touches in the infrastructure. What surprised the group were the branches. There were many red branches that shone until they descended in the innermost part of the interior, joining all of them as if it were a tree with newly formed red branches.

"But what is this?" Morgana said stunned.

_"This,"_ said the Shadow in the form of a prison guard to what the group was seeing, _"are the extensions that energize all Mementos, and are connected to the Holy Grail in their bedroom where I am taking them. These extensions helped prevent the incursion of demons by feeling their energy signatures, just like yours"_

The Phantom Thieves were surprised, wanted to know more, but refrained from asking, knowing that they would get more information when he met the Treasure.

They walked in silence, witnessing the structures and the traced eyes that covered the surface. They followed their guide along the platform where steps were made among the various Shadow Beings who muttered among themselves like the royal people in their world. They crossed through a door that had opened automatically and down a corridor that led to a large room that was a hundred times wider, and was a prison.

The spacious room was rectangular, where jet bars rose to the ceiling. In each corner they saw all the Shadows Beings locked up, both the ones above and the ones below, as well as the others as they advanced down the hall.

When they left the three cells behind, the Phantom Thieves were surprised to see familiar faces when they entered another chamber.

"... Kamoshida?!"

"... Madarame?!"

"... Kaneshiro?!"

the voices of Ryuji, Yusuke and Makoto resonated in a unison volume of speech when seeing on the left side of a cell the dark counterparts previously defeated and reformed in their first steps as the Phantom Thieves.

_"You, but what are you doing here?"_ said in a curious and solemn voice of Junya Kaneshiro, former Mafia boss and drug smuggler who was defeated by the Phantom Thieves in his Palace.

"We are about to visit the nucleus that gives life to Mementos," Makoto said in a cold and firm voice when he saw the mafia man of medium stature who almost blackmailed them in the real world when he took a photo of them at his club.

_"The Holy Grail"_ corroborated Suguru Kamoshida with a thoughtful expression. _"So the rumors among the other prisoners is true; he needs them to prevent this place from falling into the hands of demons."_

"Bastard ... well said coming from a damn lustful shit like you" said dry and poisonous Ryuji having to talk to the former physical education coach at Shujin Academy who used students as simple dolls that could be beaten and throw to the floor as if they were nothing to him. He would not forgive him for the physical abuse he had suffered, nor for what he had done to Shiho.

_"It is normal for you to have every right to repudiate and hate us for all our actions that we have committed,"_ Ichiryusai Madarame replied with a low, flat look when he saw the Phantom Thieves with regret, especially his former apprentice.

"Madarame..." The resentment and anger was sour in Yusuke's tone when he felt like his mentor, who saw him as a father, had used him as a mere puppet just like the other apprentices when he learned the crude truth of that his mentor was an arrogant and arrogant man in the Palace when he was accidentally teleported.

The tension was heavy in the chamber between the repentant Shadow Beings and the Phantom Thieves who reformed them in their Palaces. The thin line that divided them was tangible and weak, almost about to break through a deep rancor within the group that swore to make society a safe place where corrupt adults repented of their actions. The individuals in front of them were morbidly representing their souls in the depths of the shell that the human being is formed.

Vanity, arrogance, narcissism, nihilism, hedonism, hypocrisy, all those emotions was the fine combination as a Shadowed Being is composed; The dark reflection of humans in the mirror. They were not the real ones in the cell, but the reformed counterparts who learned from their mistakes when they were defeated. Seeing them repentant gave a feeling of happiness, but also pity for them. Sometimes, the human being was an individual full of imperfections that managed to harm himself by his mere self-destructive nature.

Now everything felt different, as if a wave had engulfed everything without warning, leaving great humidity in its wake after the tide went down.

Before they struggled to reform the corrupt, but now ... they were in a life or death situation ... a situation where everything had suddenly changed.

The appearance of a demonic race from another dimension was something that was not foreseen.

"What is this place? Why are everyone locked in the cells?" Haru asked, relieving the heavy icy tension.

_"This is the Regression Prison,"_ the Shadow naturally answered him in the form of a penitentiary guard, having his usual distorted tone._ "This is where the Shadow Beings are moved by orders of the Holy Grail to prevent them from being killed or infected during the invasion of demons on this plane. The rest of the other information will be given by the Holy Grail upon arrival in their chamber. please, let's continue"_

The Phantom Thieves left the cell room, without even looking back at the three well-known Shadow Beings who watched them leave with solemn glances. Haru had felt depressed and sad to know that his father's Shadow was not among the others; it hurt him a lot to remember that, behind his dark version, there was a father who really cared for his daughter, which he had shown in his Palace when he was defeated, and in her where he woke up his Persona, Milady.

They passed through wide corridors and rooms during the silent walk, until they reached the end of their journey.

In the front was a gigantic tower of hundreds of meters with an intense red glow that radiated between the various windows that came from inside. There was an inclined staircase that connected to the open entrance of the monstrous tower.

The Phantom Thieves and their guide crossed it quietly, without looking down.

Upon arriving inside, the group was impressed: around it, there were hundreds, if not thousands of Shadow Beings, circled in an infinity of cells that made up the tower. All were connected in a black chairs with ties that held their limbs, and a kind of headgear with cables that were connected to the ceilings of each cell.

The red branches they had seen on the main floor reached the center of a huge golden cup with discs and wings closed at the edges. In each corner of both there were two hands with open palms, as if they were praising.

_"I have brought them as ordered"_ the Shadow replied by prostrating himself in a submissive manner before the gigantic golden cup with red branches.

_"Excellent, now you can go, humans and I have serious matters to talk about,"_ said the giant golden cup with an authoritative and superior voice with a distorted and deep touch.

After the Shadow had gone down the steps until it disappeared from view when crossing the entrance, the Phantom Thieves were alone, face to face with the nucleus, life was left to the cognitive world of Mementos, the Holy Grail.

"Very well, since we are, what would be the real urgency that we should talk about?" Morgana replied diplomatically and seriously, stepping forward to face the Treasury that had locked him in the dungeons of the Kamoshida Palace and with the memory erased.

_"The situation in which all of you, including me, hangs on a fine thread that is about to break. This new threat goes beyond my understanding, unable to contain it by simply using the Shadows to face them. These demons do not they will stop until Mementos falls, and with it, the extinction of humanity if they enter the earthly plane. The only survival option is to unite the Metaverse with the earthly plane, and you will be the ones who will help me."_

That prayer was shocking for the group.

"Help you while joining Metaverse with our world? But what the hell is that idea! You have to be kidding me ...!" Ryuji exclaimed angrily and bewildered as he directed a critical look at the Treasury through his skull mask.

_"With that is why all the Shadow Beings are locked in their cells and connected in their chairs" _he confirmed and replenished Morgana to the Holy Grail. _"You are trying to drain all their energies at the cost of their own lives to merge the Metaverse with the human world, is that so, isn't it?"_

_"Exactly"_ he affirmed directly and seriously the Holy Grail that resonated throughout the bedroom. _"All the Shadow Beings that were previously reformed and evacuated during the invasion of demons are stored in their cells to use them in their states of acceptance to achieve my goal. They will remain weak and without strength, but maximum sacrifice is required for the greater good. , even if it is necessary to take one soul for another soul to obtain the merit that one wants "_

"That's horrible!" Ann replied with indignation. "How can you do such a thing! Not only will you drain them, but you will also kill them all at the same time!"

"What you are trying to accomplish is a mass genocide!" Makoto added in the same tone as Ann. "If the Shadow Beings die in the process, those in our world will die too"

_"You humans don't understand anything!"_ the Holy Grail erupted in anger, raising a furious aura that glowed in unison with the red branches that made the bedroom become heavy. _"I know what the consequences of my actions are in using each Shadow Being to carry out my plan. Greater sacrifices are warranted without any fault to achieve the salvation of mankind. You, the Phantom Thieves, swore to take your society to a new tomorrow at the cost of his personal tragedies. What I am doing was something that I have calculated since I began to understand humans by being created based on their distorted thoughts and emotions."_

"And what was your purpose before the demons entered the stage?" Futaba demanded about it.

_"The one of the law and order"_ sang the Holy Grail that managed to silence the group. _"During all these years, I have seen how humans have been in conflict with themselves about what is right and what is wrong. I have seen how they are appreciated, loved and hated in a certain endless cycle in which all actions executed has a lasting lasting impact that harms them and does not harm distorted thoughts that I am composed allows me to understand their behavior with a curious clarity; there are some who prefer to live in anarchy, while others prefer a world where order is the predominant law. You, humans are composed of a balance between right and wrong. The more society advanced, the more I understood that the same actions could lead to their collapse, just like the ancient empires that had dominated for centuries in the world before the rise of modern civilization._

_But, like every empire built from the foundations, there are always difficulties, and one of them is corruption, and corruption, anarchy, and anarchy, collapse. That is why, after learning about all the events that the mortal world has experienced, I have dedicated myself to compiling all the catastrophes and devastation exerted by human behavior, until I could understand that all humans could recover after all happened. the collapses described in the stories, such as the resurgence of phoenixes. Salvation and hope played an important role in emotions where there was always a light at the end of the tunnel, a second chance where everything could restart._

_Knowing that order and chaos have played an important role in the course of human history, I gave myself the task of creating a scenario where humanity deserved salvation or not; I only needed a group where it represented the oppression of the weak where their ideals of a world where the strongest should be those who ruled, and it seemed that it had appeared before me when I felt the mental presence distorted with those ideals, a human in which you know"_

"Shido ..." Yusuke said with his eyes wide and narrow.

_"When the human known as Masayoshi Shido learned about the Metaverse's existence,"_ the Holy Grail continued, _"I decided to use it as an important piece in my game, just like the other humans who had joined his cause. When the group was formed of corrupt humans known as the Conspiracy, I was missing another piece on the board; an emissary who accepted the errands of his masters in executing those who go against his authority, a murderer, and had found him in the bastard scion of Masayoshi Shido Goro Akechi"_

The Phantom Thieves were stunned by what they just heard.

"Akechi ..." Morgana stuttered, stunned. "... Goro Akechi is the murderer who worked for Shido to avenge his mother's death. But how did Akechi gain the ability to invoke different Personas?"

_"It was something I had to find out for myself when I found evidence of the existence of users who had that same skill called Wildcard. I gave Goro Akechi the power of the Wildcard through my methods to wreak havoc on Mementos with mental distortions. When the pieces that represented the authority of the strongest were in their own ranks, they only made a final touch to begin the game: a counterpart, a unit of rebels who rebel against the oppressive and corrupt system of adults. That's where you come in, the Phantom Thieves of Heart"_

"That ... that can't be true ...!" Ryuji exclaimed with dismay. "No! No! I refuse to know that this team has been created based on a game. I refuse to admit it!"

_"Refusing to know the truth only makes you question even more about your own existence as a pawn when moved on the board ..."_

"Shut up!"

"_Sometimes the truth is cruel, and one wants to live in the ignorance that nothing is true. Everything has been strategically planned just by manipulating the events to unite them. You represent the marginals of society who have a different idea of how they should of being the idealism of forming an autonomous society has led them to the point that many of the citizens saw them as saviors, while for others, they are nothing more than criminals who deserve to be locked together with the other criminals. you loved pieces moving at every step of the board to guarantee the path that humanity should take, the two sides had to face a duel in who would be the victor Ren Amamiya represented the Trickster of Hope, and Goro Akechi was the Trickster of the Destruction: Both tricksters would be destined to face a death match that would be decisive for the good of mankind, but everything suddenly changed with n the intrusion of a demonic race from another dimensional plane._

_The whole plan I have made has been in vain. The kidnapping of the Trickster of Hope not only meant the fall of my constructed scenario, but the coming of a true calamity. Humanity, which was a fundamental piece in my game board, became a species that must be saved at all costs. Their survival must be guaranteed in a unit where they will be protected when the Metaverse joins the underworld. Thus, all mankind will be safe under my domain as guardian, and you will help me if we join forces"_

"What?! Are you saying that you take advantage of this situation with the invasion of demons as a step for you to become a kind of guardian of humanity," Makoto said expectantly. "That is absurd! What you are doing is using this situation to deploy your authority in the midst of this crisis."

"Makoto is right," Morgana said stubbornly. "Not only have you locked me up in the Kamoshida Palace to execute me, but you are trying to take advantage of this as a takeover of a defenseless humanity against this new threat posed by demons. That is not the solution to this problem."

_"And how should it be?"_ the Holy Grail questioned the Phantom Thieves. _"Humanity is weak from the threat of demons; weapons technology can barely keep them at bay, but there are some who possess extremely powerful and lethal magic. The whole earthly plane will fall to the domination of demons, and I am the only one that can face them just by making my move"_

"I understand what you are trying to do," Futaba reasoned. "I know you want humanity to be protected under your domain, but your form of government is extremist and dictatorial."

_"The dictatorship is used under war measures in the midst of moral crisis,"_ the Holy Grail sentenced coldly. _"The order must prevail over the chaos in conjuring the law. All humans have longed to be under the yoke of authority to see how the whole society is heading for collapse. Here, prisoners feel regretful of their actions to be reformed for you, and that's why I brought you here. Your psyches of regret shows a clear despair that the whole society must be changed, and that change is me."_

"But what you say only self-justifies as a kind of messiah being surrounded by all that psyche!" Ryuji argued raising his voice.

_"The end justifies the means"_ bellowed the Treasure. _"The rulers use their power to make it clear that they are the highest authority over the people"_

In the past, the countries of Europe and Latin America were ravaged by radicalist dictatorships where citizens did not do what they were told, were considered anti-system rebels and then executed by insubordination. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, the Musolini government and Japanese and Chinese imperialism were considered to be strict and authoritarian governments where their rulers did not tolerate their citizens living a liberal way of life where they could do whatever one gave the desire. They always used brute force against those who did not follow what should be followed. Dictators only cared about power and superiority over the weak.

"But the people have the right to express themselves," Ann said. "Subjecting the people to an authoritarian government only serves to cause terror, and with it leads the death of thousands of innocents at the cost of someone thinking differently"

"Humans do not deserve to be indoctrinated under an extremist law," Yusuke intoned, "but to help each other against a common enemy. All differences would be put aside and we would only focus on fighting, even if it meant dying in the attempt. You you want our help under your own requirements, but we have another way to help, only if you agree"

There was a silence that permeated the entire camera. The Holy Grail was speechless before the frank clarification that Yusuke Kitagawa expressed about how it should be a united society under an authoritarian regime. He had seen how humans lived in a regime where law and order were sacred. The rulers were cruel when they came to power, but their governments lived with decades of stability through their political influence of how a country should be run. If it was a question of using brute force as a method of guaranteeing peace among citizens, then it was not considered as something bad, but effective.

Humans craved order over their lives, and he would do it; he would protect humanity by being his guardian and supreme ruler on the earthly plane. The order preceded chaos, which was seen for millennia as an endless struggle. The demons represented a great danger to a weak humanity with little capacity to face, they would not survive without even a whole wave of them.

The Phantom Thieves would help him, with other less authoritarian methods, a form of pacifist without the use of violence as a weapon.

Were they right? Did humanity deserve to help each other without imposing authority? Although ... there was a good idea in the words of the human with a fox mask.

He had seen how the Phantom Thieves helped each other like a bond of brotherhood and friendship, almost a family. The Trickster of Hope had the help of all the people who were marginal on their long road to rehabilitation. Everyone helped him in good times and in bad times. Sometimes there were fights, but they reconciled and returned as if nothing had happened.

Unity is strength, that was the phrase most used among humans to work as a team with others to achieve great goals. Cities and buildings were the living example of the social unity that humans had, a feature that took it interesting and fascinating.

If there really was a different way in how things should be done, then I would take it so I could experience it.

The Holy Grail was about to answer, but his prayer was silenced by the rumble of an earthquake that completely moved the tower to completion.

"What has happened?" Ann said as she stood on the floor where her classmates had fallen because of the tremor that took them off guard.

Before Futaba searched the digital screen for what had just happened, she was interrupted by the abrupt exclamation of the Holy Grail that echoed like a strident echo.

_"They entered!"_

"Ehh?!" they sang the Phantom Thieves.

_"They entered!"_ repeated with intense fear the Treasure._ "The demons managed to get in!"_

* * *

At the station that led to the entrance to the Depths of Mements, the Reaper, guardian of the last bastion of Shadows, was preparing to shoot the five demons that managed to find the hiding place.

Among the demonic-looking red minotaurs that stood before him, only one walked down from what looked like a kind of macabre rhino with armor.

His aura was suffocating, scary and intimidating just by looking at him. His skin was reddish like blood and his head was elongated with horns and two skulls embedded in the upper part. He wore a brass armor with a kind of X-shaped symbol with a bar at the bottom. He spotted some runes he had never seen, like his jet sword with pointed edges that he carried in his right hand.

Seeing that the demon was approaching him slowly and calmly, he took advantage of those moments of seconds to shoot Megidola, and with that, the demon was engulfed in a purple explosion that raised debris and a large wall of smoke.

The four red minotaur demons and the demonic rhino were calm, as if the powerful attack did not frighten them at all.

The smoke began to clear, and to his surprise, the demon was alive, without any scratch, smiling bloodily as he twisted his thick lips.

_"It is all you have?"_ he replied mockingly.

Leaving his stupor, the Reaper decided to use other attacks that could eliminate him completely. He used Mudoon, Mamudoon, Mahamaon, Garudyne, Ziodyne, Myriad Arrows, Vorpal Sword, even used Megidolaon as a last resort, but all the attacks he had fired had no effect on wounding or killing him on the spot.

The demon's armor shone in an unnatural way when all the fired attacks came into contact with its surface until it glowed, forming a kind of protective shield when the runes lit up with the fine color of the coals of fire.

Definitely, your situation was done at this time.

His reserve of energy had been depleted to such an extent that he was left with a minimum amount to move, which would be a mistake on his part if he did, knowing that he would be finished off with a deep cut of his sword that kept looking at him with his only eye.

_"You are a worthy opponent" a_dulterated the demon that was inches away from being close. "_I approve those who give their spirit of courage to fight against me. You used all your spells to think you could defeat me, hahahahaha! Sometimes magic can hinder mortals if you use a weapon on a battlefield. Don't worry, your death will be quick and merciful. Khorne will be happy to bring your head to his throne. The Blood God accepts the brave warriors in their stay in the Inmaterium"_

Seeing that his death was near, the Reaper charged one last shot in his use of what was left of energy.

Agidyne's shot was not effective when he was stopped by the open palm of the demon that cut him off like a thrown ball.

_"Hmm. Ha! Nice try, but I'm tired of so many magic tricks"_

The pit was deep; He did not shout or exclaim, but felt that his entire existence was beginning to disappear. His whole body shone in flames until it was consumed by the blade buried in his chest, except his head that was taken by the naked hand of the demon that kept it along with the other skulls that they had in their cloak.

With the defeated guardian and his head guarded as a trophy, U'zhul, nicknamed the Skulltaker, gestured with the blade of his sword to signal the entrance.

_"Let the screams and agony resonate for all eternity! Blood for the Blood God! FOR THE CHAOS!"_

The howls resounded like a true strident earthquake when the legions of the Chaos daemons coming behind exploded the door until it descended to the interior.

* * *

In the chamber, the Phantom Thieves and the Holy Grail watched in horror as the demons slaughtered and murdered all the Shadows that tried to contain them in cold blood. All the doors of the cells where the Shadow Beings were locked were closed and protected by Shadow squads.

On the screen invoked by Futaba, you could see how greenish and rotten demons infected the Shadows with some type of acids that were deadly. There were some demons similar to Be'lakor that sank cuts with his axes and swords to any Shadow that crossed him. The blue and pink creatures wreaked havoc when launching some kind of telekinetic and electrical attacks. They saw hounds-like beasts where they formed spirals of supernatural energy on their loins until then expelled them in jets of fire. They were also surprised that there were avian creatures similar to Kairos who cast the same spells they remembered in their first encounter.

It was horrible to see and frightening as the Shadows died just as the Shadow Beings tried to find a way out, but were killed when a demon appeared out of nowhere.

It was chaos, everything was chaos in every place they saw. The devastation and the ruins began to enlarge more and more between rows of destruction and debris that the demons destroyed.

Futaba turned off the digital screen, not wanting to see more as everything ended up in front of his eyes.

His trembled to such an extent that she fell as he couldn't stand it anymore.

"The demons ... the demons are ..." his tone was choppy and short of breath. Yusuke bowed to her and comforted her with giving her a hug so she felt accompanied that she was not alone.

"This ... this is the end for us" tears came down Ann's cheeks. "This really is the end"

"They did it, the damn demons managed to get in, and now they are killing all the Shadows." Ryuji clenched his fists. "That also includes the people of our world. The very bastards those ..."

"It's no use bothering you, Ryuji," Morgana said solemnly. "Going to help is a risk, we would die there just by being attacked by surprise. All we can do is think of a plan on how we can survive." He looked at the Holy Grail that was silent. "Well? What will you do?"

_"I ... seeing that the Shadows will not stand long, I am forced to merge the Metaverse as the only resource. The first thing will be to send them to their world so that they are safe, I can feel how the demons are approaching here"_

"It seems convenient for us to accept the deal in helping you ..." And with that, Morgana was wrapped in a white light that made him disappear, like the others, until no one was left in the chamber.

With the Phantom Thieves sent to his world, the Holy Grail decided to launch his plan: all the cells began to illuminate, the branches shone with great intensity, and the golden wings that were closed at the edges began to squeeze, ready to fly . The discs began to spin like wheels just like the Holy Grail itself.

The cries of the Shadow Beings trapped in the chairs waned as their howls became very low, almost unrecognizable to hear when all the whiteness devoured the entire room until there was nothing left but a blank space.

The merger of Metaverse with the human world had begun.

* * *

In the Velvet Room, an intense whitish veil left the interior of Igor until it disappeared into a flash. The owner was aware when he fell against the ground after Yaldabaoth left his body. He was helped to get up by the twins with worried faces.

"Master! Master! Are you all right?! What just happened?!" Caroline asked desperately.

"And what was that light that came out of his body? Master ..." Justine added in a fearful and scared tone.

"My girls ... my girls ..." The true Igor sat in his chair with some difficulty while grimacing in pain to move his limbs. He groaned and spoke in his usual recovered voice. "This is a complicated thing for you to understand ... but it seems that something terrible happened for Yadabaoth to leave my body"

Both twins were horrified.

"WHAT?!" the two exclaimed.

"I beg you to calm down, all in due course your answers will be answered" Igor calmed the frightened and shocked twins who had golden eyes wide open as plates. He let out a heavy sigh. "My dear girls, I fear that this ... situation became catastrophic"

"Catastrophic? Does it mean that a calamity has just happened?!" exasperated Caroline.

Igor grimaced, but nodded, causing the twins to be more horrified than they were.

"This went out of the way," said the owner of the Velvet Room in a tangent and bleak tone. "It is no longer a simple rehabilitation trip, but a race against time where the destiny of humanity is at stake"

"But master, I don't understand," Caroline insisted in a scared tone. "What threat are we talking about? How has everything changed in a strange way?"

Igor's countenance darkened completely, making the twins stand out while speaking deeply and roughly.

"This threat is ancient, very old, and it seems that they set their sights on the human world. They will not stop until all life on the planet is submitted to their will."

"They? Who are they, master?" Justine asked curiously and uncertainly.

"They are ancient deities that inhabit a dimension called Chaos over the millennia" their tone became even more bleak. "These deities formed the basis of negative thoughts and emotions that made them grow as the great calamities ravaged all the worlds of this universe. The gods of Chaos are nothing compared to the other gods of the Earth that Wildcard users have They are strong, lethal and dangerous, they destroy civilizations in their path and turn mortals into their faithful followers reaped by their promises. Now, with their sights set on this world, I can frankly say that we are doomed to die..."

* * *

**See you in the next chapter**


End file.
